Ballet for Martha

On May 11, 1894, Martha Graham was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. At the age of sixteen, she saw her first dance performance “and that night my fate was sealed.” In her early twenties Graham moved to Greenwich Village, New York, and joined the Follies, with assorted animal acts and chorus girls. In 1926 she started her own dance company and evolved a new type of dance based on “emotion, breathing, and spare, angular forms.” The Martha Graham Company also became the first racially integrated dance company in the United States.

Of all art forms, dance, which depends on movement, remains the hardest to convey in a book—particularly a book for children. Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan took on this task in Ballet for Martha: Making Appalachian Spring and succeeded brilliantly. At the beginning of the book, they write that though art is sometimes created by one artist, other times “it is the result of artists working together—collaborating—a forge to something new.” Then they introduce three fabulous artists: Martha Graham, who created the dance; Aaron Copland, who fashioned the music; and Isamu Noguchi, who constructed the stage setting. Readers watch each of them work on their contribution to the ballet. Noguchi carves marble, granite, and wood to create a stage. Copland chooses the Shaker hymn “It’s a gift to be simple” as the melody for the “Ballet for Martha.” Graham trains the dancers. Not all goes smoothly; at one point she has a tantrum, screams, yells, and even throws a shoe.

Then on October 30, 1944, in Washington, D.C., the first performance of Appalachian Spring occurs. Up until this point in the book, many passages of text are needed to explain the development of the dance. Then the authors cut back their words, allowing artist Brian Floca to work his magic. Using small vignettes and double-page spreads he brings both the dancers and the dance to life. They jump and leap and dominate the stage. Floca’s strong portraits of the individual dancers allow readers to feel, for several pages, as if they are witnessing this historic event.

Those who want to watch a performance to round out their experience of the book can check out the easily accessible video. In a tribute to three artists, Greenberg, Jordan, and Floca, themselves a triumvirate, show how creative people work together to fashion something new. If you love the arts, dance, or simply creative information books for young readers ages six through twelve, you will not want to miss this performance. Bravo! All three deserve a standing ovation.

Here’s a page from Ballet for Martha: Making Appalachian Spring: