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.

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.

0.1 linear feet 1 oversize folder

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.

Collection open for research.