{"id":2770,"date":"2025-11-20T18:46:23","date_gmt":"2025-11-20T23:46:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/americanhistory\/?post_type=project&p=2770"},"modified":"2025-11-21T18:12:10","modified_gmt":"2025-11-21T23:12:10","slug":"lamentation","status":"publish","type":"project","link":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/americanhistory\/project\/lamentation\/","title":{"rendered":"Lamentation"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dancing as a Course of Action:\u00a0How\u00a0Dance\u00a0Reflects on Historical Events in 20<\/span><\/b>th<\/span><\/b>\u00a0Century History<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Most people view dance solely\u00a0as\u00a0a form of entertainment.\u00a0It is viewed in a way that presents dancers as\u00a0entertainers and\u00a0does not recognize the artistry in them.\u00a0Dancers should be seen as artists,\u00a0not just entertainers, and\u00a0in fact,\u00a0early modern dance was created as a platform for dancers to reflect on current historical\u00a0events.\u00a0Modern dance provided an outlet for emotions, artistry, and current events to collide in a brilliant way. One modern dance pioneer who did this in an extraordinary way was\u00a0the founder of the Graham technique,\u00a0Martha Graham.\u00a0Graham was known for choreographing works of art that drew current events in history, so that it may deeply relate to the public when her pieces were performed. Graham wanted to stray away from the\u00a0ridged ways of ballet, and develop art that is raw, unique, and reflects the human soul.\u00a0She did not want her pieces to have a race, gender, or specific look. She\u00a0desired\u00a0to produce an art form that everyone, even at their time of greatest suffering, can find comfort in.\u00a0<\/span> \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Martha Graham\u2019s\u00a0specific piece titled\u00a0<\/span>Lamentation<\/span><\/i> premiered in New York City on January 8, 1930.\u00a0<\/span>Lamentation<\/a> (video) <\/span><\/i>was a piece that was\u00a0hard to\u00a0identify\u00a0what it was about and why\u00a0she had choreographed it. The work features a single performer enclosed in\u00a0a large sheet of\u00a0fabric\u00a0who\u00a0does not\u00a0appear to be human,\u00a0but\u00a0also not animal, and cannot be identified as either man or woman. When the dancer performs the piece, they are struggling against the material, trapped within its folds. It\u00a0develops\u00a0an image of a living sculpture, and it was later revealed that the piece is about grief.\u00a0Some specific movements from the piece that convey this phenomenon are when she repetitively covers her face with her\u00a0right\u00a0forearm. The repetition of that movement\u00a0symbolizes the constant grief that people during the Depression carried with them.\u00a0It can also be a symbol of the shame that was put upon them\u00a0when families sought relief during their poverty.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There are also other very beautiful moments when she sharply contracted from her pelvis and bent over her body which accurately represents how people feel when they are suffering from grief. Toward the end of the piece, she contracted very slowly, depicting how grief can change intensity quickly. This contrasts from the beginning of the piece when her contractions were sharper instead of fluid. Her contractions in the choreography show that the characteristics of grief are not universal. They are purely individualized. She had presented the dancer as an unidentified entity because she did not want grief to have a label. She wanted the focus to be on raw grief itself, with no identity attached. Graham\u2019s intent was to capture grief so that the audience could reflect on their own grief. After a performance, Graham emphasized that a woman came up to her and said that her piece assisted her in grieving the loss of her son. She realized that she had nothing to be ashamed of and that it was an occurrence that should be normalized.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A variety of Graham\u2019s pieces revolved\u00a0around\u00a0major historical events that occurred during her time\u00a0as a choreographer.\u00a0Her main goal was to relate human emotions, so she choreographed her pieces in relation to events that many people\u00a0felt strong emotions from.\u00a0For example, her piece titled\u00a0<\/span>Chronicle\u00a0<\/span><\/i>was a protest of the Spanish Civil War and the rise of fascism.\u00a0<\/span>Lamentation\u00a0<\/span><\/i>was premiered in 1930, a year after the Stock Market crash that led the country to enter the Great Depression. This massive impact of the Great Depression and the New Deal were seismic events in American history that provided the optimal breeding ground for a radical approach to dance.[1] <\/a><\/span>The Great Depression provoked feelings of intense grief as people lost everything, jobs, money, food, and houses.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Many people experienced depression themselves and had families who were experiencing it as well. Husbands deserted their wives and children, and people did not know what it was like when a woman’s husband was out of work, a woman told a reporter. He was gloomy and unhappy all the time. Life is terrible.[<\/span>2]<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Lamentation\u00a0<\/span><\/i>was meant to assist people in their grieving processes, and to let them know that their grief is as valid as they need it to be. The performer, trapped in their own skin, desperately tries to free themselves by pushing the fabric in all directions just to be pushed right back to where they started. This movement effectively touches upon the feeling of being trapped in unemployment, homelessness, and starvation. People during the depression related to the performer\u2019s desperateness in many ways. Desperate conditions made for desperate people. Crime soared and so did prostitution.[<\/span>2]<\/span>\u00a0They\u00a0felt that there was\u00a0no way\u00a0out.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Even through all the struggles, the audiences that came to these performances played a tremendous role in keeping modern dance alive during the Great Depression from 1929 through 1939.[<\/a><\/span>3<\/a>]<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/i>Shame and humility ricocheted through families for going on relief. As a result, many families just went hungry to avoid that humiliation. The sense of shame cut across class lines. In The Grapes of Wrath (1939), John Steinbeck\u2019s powerful novel about the victims of the Depression, a poor but proud woman is disgraced by accepting \u201ccharity\u201d from the Salvation Army.[<\/span>4]<\/span>\u00a0In the\u00a0performance of\u00a0<\/span>Lamentation<\/span><\/i>, the performer\u00a0displays a similar sense of shame. They\u00a0hide\u00a0in the fabric, continuously covering their\u00a0face with their hands or the fabric.\u00a0This\u00a0represents\u00a0the feeling of wanting to hide and suffer alone.\u00a0Going to performances like\u00a0<\/span>Lamentation\u00a0<\/span><\/i>provided a way for people\u00a0to connect through shared grief.\u00a0Being able to see that their grief was shared allowed them to relieve themselves of the shame that was\u00a0deemed\u00a0upon them for being in their condition.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/b>Similarly, the Farm Security Administration (FSA) photographed people during the Great Depression suffering during their everyday lives. These works of photography symbolized that people during the Depression shared their grief more than they thought. The images revealed the real amount of suffering that people were facing, and like Graham, they did it in an artistic way. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Though the idea of grief is a transparent element of\u00a0<\/span>Lamentation,\u00a0<\/span><\/i>there are other elements that are\u00a0not as obvious, but are still represented in the piece. The one element is feminism, and the other is modernism.\u00a0<\/span>A mining of influences that surround the changing cultural and social beliefs of and about women in the twentieth century follows and further contextualizes Graham\u2019s potential position to feminism.[<\/span>5<\/a>]<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>While\u00a0<\/span>Lamentation\u00a0<\/span><\/i>appeals to the grief that people felt during the Depression, it also contributes to the development of modernism\u00a0and feminism in dance.\u00a0By supporting the feminist movement, Graham suggests that she wants to bring truth to the surface about feminism and women.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In\u00a0<\/span>Lamentation,\u00a0<\/span><\/i>she was portrayed as grief-stricken, which is very unusual compared to the graceful and balletic manner woman were presented in.\u00a0<\/span>That is why modern dance was a critical part of modernism because it defied the social norms of having women being portrayed as always elegant or accompanied by a man. Since her intent was for the character in the piece to be presented as neither male nor female, she is combatting that idea that a man must always accompany a woman. Modernists rebelled against what they saw as repressive and conventional. It was an obstacle to artistic creativity and personal freedom, they believed, and they engaged in a relentless search for new modes of expression and behavior.[<\/span>6]<\/span>\u00a0Feminism is rebelling against women being oppressed, and Graham as a modernist did just that.\u00a0She paints the concept that women do not always have to be beautiful and delicate. They can be grief-stricken and unaccompanied by a man. Modernism and feminism are intricately woven into Graham\u2019s\u00a0piece\u00a0<\/span>Lamentation\u00a0<\/span><\/i>which breaks many boundaries in both the dance and political\u00a0world.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Dance brings people together in ways that no other art form does. Dance gives people the power to express themselves through creativity and freedom of expression. Martha Graham\u2019s work of art, <\/span>Lamentation, <\/span><\/i>specifically explores the idea that grief can look very different for everyone, and that there are no specific characteristics of grief. Her choreography accurately represents what happens to the human body during a time of grief. Her work of art also was able to bring people together as a community through her performances. People were able to connect through their shared grief as well as normalize grief, as it is a normal human emotion. Additionally, her stance on feminism allowed a radical change in the dance world, and also proved that Women’s Rights affected all areas of culture. Through this, she not only proved herself as a dance pioneer, but as a pioneer for all women regardless of whether they were dancers or not.<\/span> Whether it is through shared grief during the Great Depression, or empowerment of women through rebellious and modernist interventions, dance never failed to unite communities of people regardless of their identity. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Footnotes<\/p>\n

[1] Real, O.C. Feminist Discourse and American Identity in Modern Dance: Martha Graham and the Social Significance of the Female Dancing Body.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Itamar<\/span><\/span>\u00a02023, no. 9 (January 1, 2023): 20\u201335.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>https:\/\/research.ebsco.com\/linkprocessor\/plink?id=e9e22efa-c66b-3579-870a-270a3dc3b787.,<\/span><\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Accessed October 28, 2025\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

[2]\u00a0<\/span>David, Shi, \u201cThe Great Depression and the New Deal 1933-1939,\u201d in\u00a0<\/span>America: A Narrative History,\u00a0<\/span><\/i>brief 12<\/span>th<\/span>\u00a0edition, (W.W. Norton and Company, 2022), volume 1, pg. 1088<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

[3] Classical Ballet to Modern Dance: The Cultural Impact on the World of Dance in the American 1920s and 1930s.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>International Social Science Review<\/span><\/span>\u00a099, no. 2 (April 1, 2023): 1\u201315.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>https:\/\/research-ebsco-com.kean.idm.oclc.org\/linkprocessor\/plink?id=7b93a42b-2585-33d4-9ffa-94f9f618bae7,<\/span><\/span><\/a>\u00a0Accessed October 28, 2025.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

[4] David, Shi, \u201cThe Great Depression and the New Deal 1933-1939,\u201d in\u00a0<\/span>America: A Narrative History,\u00a0<\/span><\/i>brief 12<\/span>th<\/span>\u00a0edition, (W.W. Norton and Company, 2022), volume 1, pg. 1088<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

[5] Thoms, Victoria. American Dance Pioneer Martha Graham and the Ghosts of Feminism.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Women<\/span><\/span>\u00a023, no. 3 (September 1, 2012): 346\u201367.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>https:\/\/research-ebsco-com.kean.idm.oclc.org\/c\/6lcqak\/search\/details\/ns27jlof2jdb=aph&limiters=RV%3AY&q=martha+graham&searchMode=boolean&modal=cite-details,<\/span><\/span><\/a>\u00a0Accessed October 28, 2025.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

[6] David, Shi, \u201cThe Great Depression and the New Deal 1933-1939,\u201d in\u00a0<\/span>America: A Narrative History,\u00a0<\/span><\/i>brief 12<\/span>th<\/span>\u00a0edition, (W.W. Norton and Company, 2022), volume 1, pg. 1088<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Worked Cited (image and video)<\/p>\n

Goertz, Ralph. “Martha Graham: Lamentation.” Youtube,\u00a0<\/em>uploaded by Ballett am Rheim, 17 December 2019, https:\/\/youtu.be\/xMNp3PwsOrw?si=3xxQ8doMGnRS2AyV. Accessed on 20 November 2025.<\/p>\n

Wikimedia Commons contributors, “File:Janet Eilber Performing Martha Graham\u2019s \u201cLamentation\u201d in the East Room of the White House – NARA – 30805967.jpg,”\u00a0Wikimedia Commons,<\/i>\u00a0https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/w\/index.php?title=File:Janet_Eilber_Performing_Martha_Graham%E2%80%99s_%E2%80%9CLamentation%E2%80%9D_in_the_East_Room_of_the_White_House_-_NARA_-_30805967.jpg&oldid=992030923<\/a>\u00a0(accessed November 20, 2025).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dancing as a Course of Action:\u00a0How\u00a0Dance\u00a0Reflects on Historical Events in 20th\u00a0Century History\u00a0 Most people view dance solely\u00a0as\u00a0a form of entertainment.\u00a0It is viewed in a way that presents dancers as\u00a0entertainers and\u00a0does not recognize the artistry in them.\u00a0Dancers should be seen as artists,\u00a0not just entertainers, and\u00a0in fact,\u00a0early modern dance was created as a platform for dancers to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5868,"featured_media":2862,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"project_category":[10,734,733,732],"project_tag":[728,726,725,724,93],"class_list":["post-2770","project","type-project","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","project_category-1930-1940","project_category-artistic-responses-to-the-great-depression","project_category-feminism-in-the-1930s","project_category-modern-dance","project_tag-feminisminthe20thcentury","project_tag-greatdepression","project_tag-marthagraham","project_tag-moderndance","project_tag-1930s"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/americanhistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/project\/2770","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/americanhistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/project"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/americanhistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/project"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/americanhistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5868"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/americanhistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2770"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/americanhistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/project\/2770\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2943,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/americanhistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/project\/2770\/revisions\/2943"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/americanhistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2862"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/americanhistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2770"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"project_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/americanhistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/project_category?post=2770"},{"taxonomy":"project_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/americanhistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/project_tag?post=2770"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}