A Dancer's World

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Program
A Dancer's World
Producing Organization
WQED (Television station : Pittsburgh, Pa.)
WQED (Television station : Pittsburgh, Pa.)
Contributing Organization
WQED (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)
Library of Congress (Washington, District of Columbia)
AAPB ID
cpb-aacip/120-04rjdjcr
NOLA Code
DWRD
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Description
Program Description
This half-hour program opens in Martha Graham's dressing room where she is putting on stage make-up and arranging the exotic hair ornament for her role as Jocasta in "Night Journey." She speaks about the arduous technical training and the study of performing which every dancer must go through before appearing on stage. The scene shifts to Miss Graham's studio where she introduces eleven members of her company and describes and explains a series of movement sequences which they perform. Technical and performing points are further analyzed through short excerpts from works in the Graham repertoire. Several times during the action, the camera returns to Martha Graham in her dressing room for her further comments on what goes into "the act of theatre." The closing shots show the star in the wings ready to go on stage for a performance of "Night Journey." Martha Graham began her dancing career with the Denishawn Dancers, directed by Ruth St. Dennis and Ted Shawn. Just 35 years ago, she made her Broadway debut in the "Greenwich Village Follies." The 64 year old dancer is a vibrant woman who is a tenth generation descendant of Miles Standish (on her mother's side of the family). Born in Pittsburgh, she moved to California at the age of ten. Her family disapproved of her desire to dance, but Miss Graham's mother, now 87, is somewhat more reconciled to the idea today. She has said to her daughter, "I understand you have to go your own way, but I don't understand how you ever got there." Actress Katherine Cornel has said of her, "Martha Graham is one of the only two or three great American creative artists in all fields. She is not only a great dancer, she is a great actress." From Agnes de Mille comes the following comment, "Her additions to dance technique alone, her expansions of choreographic vocabulary are probably greater than those of any other figure in the Western theater." For the past three years, she has, to a large extent, been touring the Middle and Far East for the President's International Cultural Exchange Service. In 1965 A Dancer's World was combined with "Night Journey" and rebroadcast. (Description adapted from documents in the NET Microfiche)
Broadcast Date
1958-11-23
Asset type
Program
Genres
Documentary
Topics
Performing Arts
Dance
Media type
Moving Image
Credits
Guest: Graham, Martha
Guest: Graham, Martha
Producing Organization: WQED (Television station : Pittsburgh, Pa.)
Producing Organization: WQED (Television station : Pittsburgh, Pa.)
AAPB Contributor Holdings
WQED-TV
Identifier: 3996 (WQED)
Format: 16mm film
WQED-TV
Identifier: 3997 (WQED)
Format: 16mm film
WQED-TV
Identifier: 9938 (WQED)
Format: 16mm film
WQED-TV
Identifier: 20004 (WQED)
Format: 1 inch videotape
Generation: Copy
Duration: 01:06:00?
WQED-TV
Identifier: 9939 (WQED)
Format: 16mm film
WQED-TV
Identifier: 9937 (WQED)
Format: 16mm film
Library of Congress
Identifier: 1159854-1 (MAVIS Item ID)
Format: Film
Generation: Copy: Access
Color: B&W
Library of Congress
Identifier: 1159854-2 (MAVIS Item ID)
Format: Film
Generation: Master
Color: B&W
Library of Congress
Identifier: 1159854-3 (MAVIS Item ID)
Format: Film
Generation: Master
Color: B&W
Library of Congress
Identifier: 1159854-4 (MAVIS Item ID)
Format: Film
Generation: Master
Color: B&W
Library of Congress
Identifier: 1159854-5 (MAVIS Item ID)
Format: 16mm film
Generation: Copy: Access
Color: B&W
Library of Congress
Identifier: 1159854-1 (MAVIS Item ID)
Format: Film
Generation: Copy: Access
Color: B&W
Library of Congress
Identifier: 1159854-2 (MAVIS Item ID)
Format: Film
Generation: Master
Color: B&W
Library of Congress
Identifier: 1159854-3 (MAVIS Item ID)
Format: Film
Generation: Master
Color: B&W
Library of Congress
Identifier: 1159854-4 (MAVIS Item ID)
Format: Film
Generation: Master
Color: B&W
Library of Congress
Identifier: 1159854-5 (MAVIS Item ID)
Format: 16mm film
Generation: Copy: Access
Color: B&W
Indiana University Libraries Moving Image Archive
Identifier: [request film based on title] (Indiana University)
Format: 16mm film
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Citations
Chicago: “A Dancer's World,” 1958-11-23, WQED, Library of Congress, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC, accessed May 3, 2025, http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-120-04rjdjcr.
MLA: “A Dancer's World.” 1958-11-23. WQED, Library of Congress, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Web. May 3, 2025. <http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-120-04rjdjcr>.
APA: A Dancer's World. Boston, MA: WQED, Library of Congress, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Retrieved from http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-120-04rjdjcr