Читать книгу The Dancer Within - Rose Eichenbaum - Страница 19

Mary Hinkson

“Here are some mementos of my career,” Mary said, pointing to a gallery of framed black-and-white photos in the hallway of her Park Row apartment in lower Manhattan. “I traveled all over the world with the Graham Company. These were taken in Europe.”

“What an extraordinary career you’ve had,” I said, studying the photos—a view of the Eiffel Tower, the Colosseum in Rome, the canals in Venice, the streets of Granada, and a stunning window-lit portrait that someone had taken of her in a New York dance studio.

“Where did it all begin for you as a dancer?”

“My dance training began at the University of Wisconsin. I studied under Margaret D’Houbler who created the first university dance department in the United States. My family was dead set against my majoring in dance. ‘What are you going to do with that?’ they asked. But I was adamant. At the audition I performed the only dance I knew—a Native American Indian dance that I had learned as a kid in summer camp. After the audition Ms. H’Doubler said to me, ‘You are not really very prepared, but I sense a real sincerity in you, so I will accept you.’”

“When did you first become aware of Martha Graham?”

“In the late 1940s when Martha and her company performed in Madison, Wisconsin. Ms. H’Doubler required that her dance students attend the concert. Later, after I moved to New York, I took a class she was teaching at NYU. I fell in love with her technique, its intensity and hypnotic quality. In 1951, Martha invited me to perform in Dark Meadow with the company as a replacement for one of her dancers. It proved life-changing.”

“What was it about Martha that was so…”