A Dancer's World

The impression is that Graham agreed to a film being made about her company, provided she had significant control over all the elements. The result is a thoughtful and confidently-expressed monologue about the character and work of a dancer, good performances of good choreography, filmed in a very simple style, with few edits, designed to show the dance as clearly and well as possible (a notion about how to film dance scenes that has almost entirely vanished). Hinkson is the stand-out performer.

Perhaps one of the first pseudo-documentaries, where we think we're just watching a Martha Graham practice session, but it's really a well-choreographed piece in itself. The commentary is a little high-brow, but otherwise it's a good introduction to her style of movement.

He who lives by the sea, stops with time to hear the sound of the waves.

Uncultured boob that I am, I still don't like ballet. I can admire the skill and physicality of it, and on some level the aesthetic beauty of it. But as artistic expression, I just don't get it. A lot of it looks silly to me, and I often end up giggling. And so, although Graham is a thoughtful person dedicated to her craft, neither her poetic remarks nor the performances left much impression on me. I did find some of the dance to be beautiful, but it doesn't take long for me to tire of it.