Dancers

MARTHA GRAHAM

Martha Graham was an American dancer and choreographer who was a pioneer of modern dance (she preferred the term contemporary dance). Her dance career lasted over 70 years. She is known for showing a lot of emotion in her work. One of her most famous dances, Chronicle, was about the Great Depression, the stock market crash, and the war that was going on at the time. It was dark and emotional and drew a lot of attention. She started a dance center under her name, and also began a dance company in Israel. Martha was named "Dancer of the Century" by Time Magazine in the 1990s, and has received numerous awards and was the first dancer to perform at the White House, was a cultural ambassador, and was awarded the Medal Of Freedom by a US President. Martha did not like to have her work documented or recorded, and even burned some of her diaries so that her notes could not be seen. She believed that dance was much better in person. Later in her career, she became an alcoholic and was dealing with a lot of criticism regarding her age. She stopped dancing, but continued choreographing, even while she was on her deathbed. She died at age 96, in 1991.
I couldn't find any of Martha's work online except for miscellaneous stills on Google Image Search, so I really have no idea what her stuff was like. I assume it was awesome if she was the Dancer of the Century.

TWYLA THARP

Twyla Tharp is a dancer who danced with Martha Graham for a while. She also studied at the Vera Lynn School of Dance and went to Pomona and Bernard Colleges. She was part of the American Ballet Theatre in 1988, where she created 12 works. She has and still does choreograph for major dance companies. She has recieved a Tony Award for her work on Movin' Out with Billy Joel. She still choreographs, and she has said that, "dance is like bank robbery- it takes split-second timing."
I could find a couple of videos of Twyla on YouTube, but nothing that I thought was legitimate enough to make a really good judgement. From what I saw, her work seems fun, fast-paced, and energetic. She seems to be a little silly and playful, and some of her dancing reminds me of Pipilotti Rist's I'm Not The Girl That Misses Much. Only better. Haha. I would have to see more of Tharp's choreography and dancing to really say what I think.

MARK MORRIS

Mark Morris is a modern dancer, choreographer, and director. He is known for his craft, ingenuity, humor, and eclectic music choice. As a child, his family nurtured his dancing and artistic abilities. He started his own dance company and has also worked on the White Oak Dance Project with some famous dude in 1991. He has done 6 projects at the San Francisco Ballet and has received multiple commissions from big companies. He has received 8 honorary doctorates, whatever those are. He was very well known as a dancer for his musicality, delicacy, and power. He was heavier than most dancers, like the size of a normal person, and still outdanced most of his contemporaries. He was known to be very expressive and technical.
AGAIN, I couldn't find much of his work online. I did see a couple of clips on YouTube, though, and it looks like any other professional dance stuff. Nice, but I guess dance isn't really what I'm into.