Erick Hawkins: Martha Graham’s First Male Company Member and the Creator of the Hawkins Technique
Erick Hawkins made modern dance history as the first male dancer accepted into Martha Graham’s company, but he also earned success as a choreographer and creator of the Hawkins technique. His movement was characterized by a free-flow aesthetic—one that required hidden strength—and informs many of the somatic disciplines we know today, like Body-Mind Centering technique.
A late bloomer, Hawkins discovered dance in his early 20s after seeing a performance by German dancers Yvonne Georgi and Harald Kreutzberg. The summer after he graduated from Harvard University, he studied with Kreutzberg in Austria. Hawkins’ next stop was New York City, where he trained for four years at the newly founded School of American Ballet. While there, he danced with and choreographed for Lincoln Kirstein’s Ballet Caravan, the predecessor to New York City Ballet.
In 1936, Ballet Caravan performed at Bennington College, where the Martha Graham company was also in residence. Hawkins was immediately drawn to Graham’s intensity and uniquely American dance; two years later, she invited him into her company. Over the course of 12 years with Graham, Hawkins starred in many roles, often as her partner (Letter to the World, 1940; Appalachian Spring, 1944; Cave of the Heart, 1946; Night Journey, 1947), and the two married in 1948. They separated two years later.
Feeling stifled and yearning to explore his own work, Hawkins founded a school and company in 1951. His influences were as varied as Southwest Native American traditions, the poetry of Zen Buddhism, and kinesiology. His commitment to new and live music for performances and collaborations with well-known composers and designers were noteworthy, though his works were initially dismissed by critics and never found success anywhere near that of Graham’s. Hawkins continued to operate his school until his death in 1994.
Vocabulary
Hawkins sought to convey a sensation of freedom in his movement. Hallmarks include:
- Initiating movement from the pelvis, or center of gravity.
- Use of over and under curves.
- Swinging legs high in the hip sockets to activate lightness.
- Employing the spine’s four curves—cervical, thoracic, lumbar, and sacral. The Hawkins spine contracts and decontracts (versus Graham’s contraction and release).
The Work
Classic Kite Tails (1972)
Capturing the floating, darting qualities of flying kites, this work emphasized flowy, carving movement with Hawkins’ tassel arms.
Greek Dreams, with Flute (1973)
With nearly naked men and women wearing only sheer Grecian tunics, Hawkins contrasted male and female bodies in motion.
Agathlon (1979)
Inspired by the rock formation of the same name in an Arizona Navajo reservation, Hawkins based Agathlon on asymmetry and imbalance versus balance.
Fun Fact
In 1950, immediately following their separation, Hawkins sent Graham a typed, 27-page letter, attempting to explain his reasons for their split.
Resources
The Body is a Clear Place and Other Statements on Dance, by Erick Hawkins (Princeton Book Company Publishers, 1992)
Dances of José Limón and Erick Hawkins, by James Moreno (Routledge, 2020)
The Erick Hawkins Modern Dance Technique, by Renata Celichowska (Princeton Book Company Publishers, 2000)
Web
The Hawkins-Dlugoszewski Foundation/Erick Hawkins Dance Company
Erick Hawkins Dance Company on Instagram
Erick Hawkins and Lucia Dlugoszewski Papers, Music Division, Library of Congress
Editor’s note: A version of this article originally appeared in the October 2014 issue of Dance Teacher.
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