Skip to content

Rikomatic

Musings on Dance, Food, Geek Stuff

Menu
  • Follow Me on Instagram
  • My Professional Site RangerRik.com
  • Every Roller Rink in California (Map)
Menu

Keeping the Channel Open

Posted on March 6, 2016 by

Martha_Graham_by_Nickolas_Muray

I've been thinking hard for the past month or so about this quote from the dance legend Martha Graham about staying true to your own personal voice in whatever you create.

Blogger James Clear recounts a story about Agnes De Mille, another dance legend in her own right in the 1940s, who was confused and troubled by the apparent randomness of her success and failures as a dancer. De Mille was vexed that some of what she thought her "best" work had received almost no recognition, while her middling work on "Oklahoma" garnered widespread critical and popular praise. She didn't know how to process it all. So she talked to Martha Graham.

Reportedly, Martha's reply was this:

“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.”

This really cuts me to the quick. What it says to me is you can't waste your time fretting about how others value the artistic work you are doing or comparing it to other's work in your field. That is what critics and the audience is for. Your main responsibility is being true to your personal expression and vision, because it is unique in all the universe, and if you don't instantiate it into the world, no one else will get to experience it. 

You need to "keep the channel open." I like this so much. It says to me that inside of you is your truest, deepest, most authentic self, but that it takes constant effort to pay attention and listen to it. 

Photo Credit: Nickolas Muray, "Portrait of Martha Graham" , Link. Public Domain.

Martha graham quote

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Freestyle to “Booty Swing” by Parov Stelar

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3pMWtX0DdE

Recent Posts

  • Poor and Alone in Geneva
  • I Bought the 1982 EPCOT Map (print)
  • Yummiest Things I Ate in 2022
  • The Way to Prevent Alzheimer’s Is Right in Front of Us
  • 2022 in Review: Cake Bakes, Feeding the ‘Gram, Flexing My Diet, Disney with a Kid!

Categories

  • Books
  • Cats
  • Civil Society
  • Creative Writing
  • Current Affairs
  • Dancing / Music
  • Education
  • Family
  • Film
  • Food and Drink
  • Frankie Manning
  • Games
  • General
  • Health
  • Information Society
  • Machinima
  • Media Reform
  • Music
  • New York
  • Politics
  • Real World Places in SL
  • Religion
  • Science
  • SF Bay Area
  • Television
  • The Spirit
  • Travel
  • Uncategorized
  • United Nations
  • Virtual Worlds
  • Web/Tech
  • Weblogs

Tags

b-boy (75) breakdance (50) breaking (26) brooklyn (36) charleston (11) competition (11) coney island (10) dance (17) dancing (30) documentary (15) education (21) festival (12) frankie95 (16) frankie manning (52) frim fram (10) global kids (70) hip-hop (31) human rights (11) inaug09 (11) jazz (12) lindyhop (17) lindy hop (141) lowcarb (18) lxd (11) macarthur foundation (12) machinima (22) memorial (14) mermaidparade (22) mtv (13) performance (16) pmt (10) popping (11) quaker (27) recipe (38) rockclimbing (16) second life (81) shim sham (15) skating (40) soul music (14) swing (51) swing dance (45) united nations (10) virtual world (19) virtual worlds (29) yehoodi (38)
© 2023 Rikomatic | Powered by Superbs Personal Blog theme