On The Relationship Between Martha Graeme 's Psychological Expressionist Dance And Freud' S Psychoanalysis

Martha Graham is recognized as one of the most influential dancers andchoreographers of the20th century. She established the oldest dance companyin America and trained many world famous dancers. Over the course of her97years Martha Graham created more than180modern dance works， many of whichshe performed in. Her efforts contributed greatly to the development ofmodern dance not only through the use of body language， but also byincorporating abstract themes， which provide a deeper level of meaning.Many of Martha Graham’s works contain a strong psychological elementrelating to the expression of instinct and the power of the subconscious.During the early and mid1900’s Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theory hadan enormous influence on the field of psychology and many underlying Freudianthemes are found within Graham’s dances. Freud’s influence is especiallyillustrated by Graham’s use of Greek mythology. For example her exemplarypiece Night journey presents a feminine version of Oedipus Rex， which wasalso deeply analyzed by Freud.This thesis explores the influence of Freud’s psychoanalytic theory onMartha Graham’s expressionist dance. Three major aspects of Graham’s styleare discussed: her choreographic methods; the deeper meanings of her work;and， advantages over Freud’ s psychoanalytic theory in terms ofunderstanding the physical aspects of expression and the psychology of womenin society. Graham’s style of dance can be viewed as a medium to expressthe inner workings of the mind. Although Martha graham was a dancer and Freuda psychologist， both used their talents to deepen the understanding of thecomplex human mind.