Female Empowerment In Martha Graham's Night Journey

The modern dance piece Night Journey (1947) by Martha Graham demonstrates the unique and powerful choreography which established Graham as the “Mother of Modern Dance” (Mapes). Perhaps Graham’s distinctive style can be traced to her unorthodox path into the field of dance. Unlike many of her peers, Graham did not begin her study of dance until her mid 20s (Mapes). Graham’s venture into dance was during an era in which women did not even have the right to vote and the globe was in the grips of World War I (Mapes). Through dance, Graham was able to express her identity and struggles as a contemporary woman. Consequently, the muscular movements which Graham included starkly contrasted the graceful ballerina steps that were common at the time (Mapes). In Night Journey, Graham revives the story of Oedipus the King, an ancient Greek story written by Sophocles. However, in her interpretation, Graham chooses not to focus on the lead character, Oedipus, but on the female …show more content…
Although her peers from the Denishawn Company such as Mary Wigman exhibited similar violent and emotional movements, Graham focused on female empowerment. Graham was ahead of her time in her raw displays of feminism. In fact, it can be noted that Graham reveled in depicting “the struggles and triumphs of both great and ordinary women” (“About the Dancer”). The fact that Graham chose to focus on the female character in Oedipus rather than the whole story itself shows that Graham was intent on sharing a female perspective of the story. As Graham took on the role of Jocasta, Frederick Hawkins, the first male dancer in Graham’s company took on the role of Oedipus. Hawkins was Graham’s boyfriend at the time and nearly twenty years her junior (“Frederick Hawkins”). Ironically, life did imitate art as Graham and Hawkins went on to marry and then separate after several years