The Power of Fragility Martha Graham, Clytemnestra, and United States Cold War Propaganda

Abstract

Martha Graham’s modernist dance, Clytemnestra, opened on Broadway in 1958; celebrated as “a blazing swatch of emotional colors,” its Cold War political import became immediately apparent as it toured for the US government. Clytemnestra demonstrated not only the cultural sophistication of the US; the dramatization of emotions in an American modern non-verbal language engaged international audience and diplomatic “hearts” in the US bid for “hearts and minds” in its fight against communism. As a powerful artist, Graham brought her fragility to the stage, which represented the nation in what the government called the “the translation effect.”