The Deity of Modern Dance: Martha Graham: 1894-1991

Martha Graham finally retired from the stage at 75, but the decision came hard. A philosophical friend suggested she must remember that she was not a goddess but a mortal. "That's difficult," Graham replied, "when you see yourself as a goddess and behave like one."

When she died last week, at 96, after a two-month battle with pneumonia, dance lovers -- from young members of her company to the thousands she trained and nurtured -- could hardly believe that she had succumbed to any physical weakness. She was the reigning deity of modern dance. If she did not invent it --...