I found this book to very inspriational as it focuses on one of the most influential woman of all time, Martha Graham the mother of modern dance. This book takes us through her life from her beginnings as a dancer to the amazing achievements she accomplished in her lifetime. She was a woman who took dance to a new level and completely created her own style termed modern dance.

Russell Freedman did an excellent job researching for this book. Martha Graham was a powerful and influential woman in 20th century American dance. She helped shape and define a groundbreaking new way of dancing that expressed emotion in a way that hadn’t been done before. For a dancer she started late in life (19 years old) but she continued to perform until she was 75 and the last of the 181 dances she created was made when she was 95! Martha lived to dance and this book gives the reader a sense of the passion and drive that she had when dancing and choreographing. The text moves easily between descriptions of performances, Martha's philosophy and musings and vignettes of her everyday life off the stage. The author interspersed all of it with striking black and white photographs taken in all areas of her life. I loved this book because of my past background as a dancer in a professional company, but I can see that it would appeal to the creative dreamer and artist in any one who reads this. It would be an excellent addition to both Middle and High School libraries. ( )