At the time I started in ballet they were dancing 'The Spirit of Champagne' on pointe, in Paris. I thought, 'I don't want to dance the spirit of champagne, I want to drink it!

As Glen Tetley told Agnes de Mille “The wonderful thing about Martha in her good days was her generosity. She boils down her moods and movements until they are devoid of all extraneous substances and are concentrated to the highest degree. In her lifetime Martha Graham received honors ranging from the Key to the City of Paris to Japan's Imperial Order of the Precious Crown.

Sometimes it is not pleasant. Martha Graham (May 11 1894 – April 1 1991) was an American modern dancer and choreographer whose influence on dance has been compared with the influence Picasso had on the modern visual artsStravinsky had on music or Frank Lloyd Wright had on architecture. In her lifetime Martha Graham received honors ranging from the Key to the City of Paris to Japan's Imperial Order of the Precious Crown.