Although her peers from the Denishawn Company such as Mary Wigman exhibited similar violent and emotional movements, Graham focused on female empowerment. Graham was ahead of her time in her raw displays of feminism. In fact, it can be noted that Graham reveled in depicting “the struggles and triumphs of both great and ordinary women” (“About the Dancer”). The fact that Graham chose to focus on the female character in Oedipus rather than the whole story itself shows that Graham was intent on sharing a female perspective of the story. As Graham took on the role of Jocasta, Frederick Hawkins, the first male dancer in Graham’s company took on the role of Oedipus. Hawkins was Graham’s boyfriend at the time and nearly twenty years her junior (“Frederick Hawkins”). Ironically, life did imitate art as Graham and Hawkins went on to marry and then separate after several years
Although her peers from the Denishawn Company such as Mary Wigman exhibited similar violent and emotional movements, Graham focused on female empowerment. Graham was ahead of her time in her raw displays of feminism. In fact, it can be noted that Graham reveled in depicting “the struggles and triumphs of both great and ordinary women” (“About the Dancer”). The fact that Graham chose to focus on the female character in Oedipus rather than the whole story itself shows that Graham was intent on sharing a female perspective of the story. As Graham took on the role of Jocasta, Frederick Hawkins, the first male dancer in Graham’s company took on the role of Oedipus. Hawkins was Graham’s boyfriend at the time and nearly twenty years her junior (“Frederick Hawkins”). Ironically, life did imitate art as Graham and Hawkins went on to marry and then separate after several years