A New American “Physical Morality”: Martha Graham and the Revaluation of the Body in Letter to the World

Abstract

This paper will explore Graham’s revaluation of morality, as well as her Whitman-inspired conception of “physical morality” promoting the free expression of the body, and her conception of the universal beauty of the body performing true movement, free from the stifling falseness of Puritan conventions. Influenced by Nietzsche, Graham opposed the repressive forces of a Puritan “priestly mode of valuation” to a life-affirming, joyful urge in the soul that fosters creativity and doesn’t devalue the body. This opposition will be particularly examined in her use of Nietzschean Umwertung in her ballet Letter to the World, which was inspired by the life and work of Emily Dickinson.

Keywords

• Martha Graham
• dance
• Emily Dickinson
• Nietzsche
• Puritanism
• religion