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Guide to the Barbara Morgan Photographs of Martha Graham and Company
MS-P064
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Title: Barbara Morgan photographs of Martha Graham and Company,
Date (inclusive): 1935-1940
Collection number: MS-P064
Creator:
Morgan, Barbara Brooks, 1900- , photographer
Extent:
0.1 linear feet
1 oversize folder
Repository:
University of California, Irvine. Library.
Special Collections and Archives.
Irvine, California 92623-9557
Abstract: This collection comprises three images of Graham and five of her company in performance, all printed from the original negatives
in Willard and Barbara Morgan Archives.
Language:
English.
Collection open for research.
Property rights reside with the University of California. Literary rights are retained by the creators of the records and
their heirs. For permissions to reproduce or to publish, please contact the Head of Special Collections and University Archives.
Barbara Morgan photographs of Martha Graham and Company. MS-P64. Special Collections and Archives, The UC Irvine Libraries,
Irvine, California.
Acquired, 2004, with funds from a National College Choreography Initiative grant to the UC Irvine Dance Department, and from
The John and Elizabeth Stahr Library Fund.
Processed by Andre Ambrus and description written by Ryan Hildebrand, 2004.
Martha Graham was an American dancer, instructor, choreographer, and director of the Martha Graham Dance Company. She was
born in Allegheny, Pennsylvania in 1894. Her formative training was with Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn at the Denishawn School
and Company in Los Angeles. Graham went on to teach at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y., where she began to
explore more experimental dance techniques. One of the most influential figures in modern dance, she created over 100 works,
including solo, ensemble, and theatrical pieces. As a teacher Graham fostered the continuing evolution of modern dance through
former company members such as Anna Sokolow, Merce Cunningham, and Paul Taylor. She died in 1991.
Barbara Morgan was an American photographer particularly well known for her work, both experimental and documentary, with
modern dancers. She was born in Buffalo, Kansas in 1900. Though formally trained in painting and printmaking at the University
of California, Los Angeles, Morgan developed an interest in photography after seeing an exhibit of Edward Weston's photographs.
One of Morgan's early major undertakings as a photographer was her work with Martha Graham and the Martha Graham Dance Company
during the years1935-1940, which formed the basis for her book, Martha Graham: sixteen dances, published in 1941. Morgan's
dance photographs were groundbreaking in their departure from "performance documentation" and helped to revolutionized dance
photography. She died in 1992.
Scope and Content of Collection
This collection comprises three images of Graham and five of her company in performance, all printed from the original negatives
in Willard and Barbara Morgan Archives.
Images are black and white and range from 11 x 14 to 16 x 20 inches.
Photographs are arranged alphabetically by title of the choreographic work depicted.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in
the library's online public access catalog.
Graham, Martha--Photographs.
Martha Graham Dance Company--Photographs.
Satyric festival song (Choreographic work : Graham)--Photographs.
Penitente (Choreographic work : Graham)--Photographs.
Every soul is a circus (Choreographic work : Graham)--Photographs.
Steps in the street (Choreographic work : Graham)--Photographs.
Modern dance--Photographs.
Photographic prints--20th century.
Index Terms Related to this Collection
Willard & Barbara Morgan Archives.
Related photographs and performance programs of Martha Graham and her company can be found in the following collections in
Special Collections and Archives.
- MS-P21, Dance Photograph Collection
- MS-P26, Dance Program Collection