The Echo of Martha Graham in My Body: A Tribute Through Ballates

May is the month we remember the birth of a woman who changed the language of movement forever — Martha Graham. Her legacy in modern dance shaped not only generations of dancers, but also helped shape me. This is the story of how I found Graham, how she transformed me, and how Ballates today carries a quiet, deliberate homage to her.

I first encountered Martha Graham not in a theater, but in a book. I was a young dancer, hungry for knowledge and depth, and someone gave me a book a bout a dancer called Ruth Rachou, who was Graham's student. And suddenly, I was in love with Graham.

I had to learn her technique, and Istarted taking classes until I was able to fly to NYC and go to Martha Graham Dance School. At that time, I was able to study Limón, Horton, Isadora Duncan, Cunningham, and it was then that I decided to also take a Pilates certification — but that's a story for another time.

When I began studying the Graham technique in earnest, it was like returning to the earth. Everything about it — the spirals, the contractions, the release — demanded presence, breath, honesty. No frills. No hiding. You either meant it or you didn’t. And that was a shock to my body, and to my ego. It took time, sweat, and surrender.

But then, something changed. My movements began to speak. My spine started telling stories. My breath stopped apologizing.

Graham taught me that beauty is not decoration — it is meaning. She taught me how to move with my scars, not in spite of them. And that philosophy quietly sculpted the foundations of Ballates.

In Ballates, you will see echoes of Graham — not in imitation, but in essence. The groundedness. The spiral. The pause before a fall. The breath that initiates motion. These are small tributes built into the fabric of my method, which fuses ballet and pilates with the soul of modern dance. I never choreograph a Ballates sequence without feeling Martha somewhere behind me, watching, nodding, reminding me to stay real.

As we celebrate her birthday this month, I honor her by moving with depth, teaching with intention, and inviting others to find that same truth in their own bodies. Ballates is not a replica of the past. But it holds hands with it.

Thank you, Martha, for teaching me that movement is memory, and memory is power.