Google Celebrates Dancer Martha Graham

In honour of what would have been dancer and choreographer Martha Graham’s 117th birthday, Google has made a a Google Doodle in the form of a moving dancer.

The dancer moves from the right to the left-hand side of the page performing one of Graham’s signature works. The dancer spells out the Google logo and transforms into another dancer after each letter.

Born in 1894, Graham is responsible for starting a new style of dance in the ’20s and ’30s. In 1926, Graham started her own dance company and passed away in 1991.

The images in today’s Google Doodle portray the best of Graham’s work.

The first is from one of her solos in 1930 called Lamentation.

The second is from 1932 and is called Satyric Festival Song. In this one she is mocking the fame she obtained from Lamentation using Native American ritual.

In the third image, the dancer is playing the bride role from a ballet Graham created in 1944 called Appalachian Spring.

The dancer in the fourth image demonstrates Graham’s “contraction” move as her legs rise above the two “Os” in Google. This one is from Night Journey in 1947.

The final image is from Graham’s 1935 solo in  Frontier.

The animation was artist Ryan Woodward’s idea. He was inspired  by Martha Graham Dance Company’s principal dancer Blakeley White-McGuire.