Hanya Holm - Holm Technique and Choreography

Holm Technique and Choreography

Holm had a unique form of technique that shaped generations of dancers including Alwin Nikolais, Mary Anthony, Valerie Bettis, Don Redlich, and Glen Tetley. Her technique stressed the importance of pulse, planes, floor patterns, aerial design, direction, and spatial dimensions. Holm's movement emphasized the freedom and flowing quality of the torso and back, but remained based on universal principles of physics for motion. Holm trained through improvisation so, a specific movement vocabulary or phrasing that could be carried on through classes does not exist; instead her focus was about learning through discovery. Choreographically her movement focused on the body’s relation to space and emotion, which was an extension of Wigman and Rudolf Laban. She worked on movement that projected into space. Holm's stylistic idea was about "absolute dance" without pantomime or dramatic overtones. Attention to conveying an idea in her choreography was more important than the dancers' technical ability. Holm would say, "I want to see a sign of passion. I want to see the raw if struggling to express itself. A work must have blood."

Invited by dance director Martha Hill, Holm was one of the founding artists at Bennington College in 1934 along with Martha Graham, Charles Weidman, and Doris Humphrey, who came to be some of the most influential modern dancers of their time: "The Big Four". The American Dance Festival (ADF) arose from Bennington College. This was an opportunity for modern dancers to come together to take class and present new works. Holm's first major work, Trend, (1937) dealt with social criticism and incorporated Ausdruckstanz and American techniques. In 1941, she started a Center of Dance in Colorado Springs where she had summer courses and was able to perfect her creative exploration technique.

In 1948, she choreographed for Broadway: Ballet Ballads and Kiss Me, Kate which led to twelve other musicals. Holm's dance work Metropolitan Daily was the first modern dance composition to be televised on NBC, and her Labanotation score for Kiss Me, Kate (1948) was the first choreography to be copyrighted in the United States. She also choreographed Out of This World, My Fair Lady (1956), Camelot (1960), and Anya (1965).She also directed a 1960s television musical adaptation of Pinocchio. Holm choreographed extensively in the fields of concert dance and musical theatre. Other works by Holm include: Tragic Exodus, They Too Are Exiles, Dance Of Work and Play and Dance Sonata