There Is A Time By Martha Graham And Jose Limon

When we want to learn something about ourselves one of the things we tend to analyze is our history. When we feel the need to understand how technology and science have become as advanced as they are we look to history for the answer. When we want to predict trends in our society we look to history. Just like these, and many other examples to learn about dance we once again we study history in order to understand the development of this art form. Some of the earliest and most influential modern dancers in America were Martha Graham and Jose Limon. It is interesting to look at their pieces and see how they are both similar and different and how time at which their choreography was taking place influenced their work. In this paper, these
concepts will be explored in two of their most well-known pieces, Graham’s Diversion of Angels and Limon’s There Is a Time. Diversion of Angels is a beautiful piece. It evokes a carefree emotion that makes me envision the dancers dancing in meadow on a glorious spring day. Ranging from the more serious older sister in the white dress to the more playful sisters in the red and yellow dress. I thought the quote in the beginning of the video when Graham said that is was inspired by the “love of life and the love of love”. In the Diversion of Angels I loved the flowing dresses worn by the female dancers and how they complement the unique movement style that Graham is known for. Limon’s piece There Is a Time is a flowing piece that exemplifies Limon’s use of gravity to inform his movements.
This piece swirled through space rarely having any moments that were truly stagnant. The dances made every movement look natural and seamless. Limon’s use of circles and circular movement in addition to the influence of gravity really enhanced the fluid quality of There Is a Time that made it very pleasing to watch. It was interesting to see how he could use similar movement qualities but change the tempo and emphasis on a movement to alter the expression of the movement. This piece felt like it swung my emotions back and forth over the line between light and dark by using movement that brought carefree feelings to mind before switching to a more ominous mood and back
again. Even though these two pieces were choreographed by two individuals with very different approaches to dance they have several similarities.
Two of the similarities I found interesting are the women’s costuming and the use of cannons. The women’s costumes were long dresses fitted through the torso and extending into a long simple skirt. I thought that the dresses really complemented the movements in both of these pieces even though they both had different movement qualities. Somehow, despite the skirts being long, the movements of the dancers were still very visible and the little bit of looseness of the dresses accented any of the turning movements to create a continuation of the dancers’ movements. Another device that Graham and Limon both used in these two pieces was the cannon. It was fascinating to see how they both used cannons to create a continuous flow both in the male trio in There Is a Time and the male quartet in Diversion of Angels. The choreography in these cannons was performed in circular or sinusoidal floor pattern which I though was really
interesting. Just like how these pieces had some similarities they also had quite a few differences. Two of these included Graham’s obvious use of classwork and her corps work. Having had some experience with Graham classwork, if only for the past couple of weeks, it was easy to recognize several of her most stylized movements. From the contractions and cupped hands to the tilts and spirals, the piece is easily recognizable as Graham’s because it is so closely linked to her class work. Another difference that was interesting to note, was Graham’s use of stillness of her corps dancers to act as a stage set for her soloists. This is not something I have observed in pieces of modern choreography made before this date so it came as a kind of surprise to me when I noticed it. When looking at these pieces in reference to the point in history when they were choreographed, the 1950’s, there are some choreographic choices made that show how Graham and Limon were influenced by the time period in which they were choreographing. One of these influences was probably the founding of the New York City Ballet. Graham’s use of her corps members to frame and support her soloists reminded me greatly of the corps de ballet and as Balanchine was forming an American Ballet company it would make sense that this would influence the works of modern dancers. Another influence from the time period, is probably the end of World War II. From Graham’s inspiration of love for Diversion of Angels and Limon’s portrayal of the ups and downs of life through the passage of time in There Is a Time, it is clear that World War II had an impact on art and those making art. In short it was really intriguing to watch these two similar but different pieces created by Graham and Limon. It is really important that current and future generations of dancer where we have come from. I greatly enjoyed watching both of these pieces because Graham’s style is so unique and Limon’s style is so fluid, more aligning with my personal movement style preference and despite their differences in use of corps dancers and classwork it was interesting to see how great minds can think alike with the use of cannons and choice in costuming.