artists of the week:

Martha Graham
She was an American dancer and choreographer. She mainly works with modern dance. She is widely considered one of the greatest artists of the 20th century. She danced and choreographed for over seventy years, and during that time, she was the first woman to ever perform at the White House. She was born in PA. In 1936, she made "Chronicle" which led to a new era of contemporary dance. This dance focused on depression and isolation reflected in the dark nature of both the set and the costumes. The Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance was esablished in 1926.

"There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is nor how valuable nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep yourself open and aware to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open. ... No artist is pleased. [There is] no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is only a queer divine dissatisfaction, a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than the others"
http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=Martha+Graham&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi


Twyla Tharp
She was born in 1931, attended college in California. She created more than a dozen works for the American Ballet Theatre in 1988. Since then she has choreographed dances for companies such as Paris Opera Ballet, The Royal Ballet, New York City Ballet, The Boston Ballet, The Joffrey Ballet, Hubbard Street Dance, and The Martha Graham Dance Company. Besides dancing and choreographing, Thwarp has written several books.
"I had to become the greatest choreographer of my time. That was my mission, and that's what I set out to do."
"You have to be either hopelessly passionate, or very stupid."
"Art is the only way to run away without leaving home."
"Dancing is like bank-robbery. It takes split-second timing."
"Modern dance is not less; modern dance is more. It's everything that came before it, plus."
http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=Twyla+Tharp&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi

Mark Morris
He is an American modern dancer, choreographer and director. He is known for his craftsmanship, ingenuity, and humor. He grew up in Seattle, Washington. He later on moved to New York, establishing The Mart Morris Dance Group...1980. Notable works of Morris include "Gloria" (1981), set to Vivaldi, "Championship Wrestling" (1985), based on an essay by Roland Barthes, L'Allegro, Il Penseroso, ed Il Moderato (1988), Dido and Aeneas (1989), The Hard Nut (1991), a campy version of The Nutcracker set in the 1960s, The Office (1995), Greek to Me (2000), a dance version of the Virgil Thomson–Gertrude Stein opera Four Saints in Three Acts (2001), the ballet The Garden (2001), and the modern dance pieces Grand Duo (1993), V (2002) and All Fours (2004).
http://markmorrisdancegroup.org/the_company