Channel Your Inner Martha for the Graham Company's New Instagram Challenge

January 29, 2020

Do it for the Graham: Get ready to channel your inner Martha for a new Instagram challenge that the Martha Graham Dance Company is launching today.

The contest, 19 Poses for the 19th Amendment, is part of The Eve Project, the company’s two-year-long celebration of the centennial of the amendment that gave women the right to vote. It’s a way to honor not only the suffragettes, but also Graham’s revolutionary approach to showcasing powerful, complex female characters onstage.

A black and white image of Martha Graham in a front attitude, copied by a dancer with a grocery bag

Graham School student Luis “LT” Martinez inspired the challenge with his Instagram post.

Courtesy Martha Graham Dance Company

The company is inviting Graham fans to riff off of one (or more!) of 19 iconic photographs of Martha Graham. The challenge: to re-create her movement while doing an everyday task in an everyday location.

Want to join the fun? Here’s how:

1. Find a creative way to incorporate one of the poses into a real-world setting (i.e. not a dance studio or theater). Go for the unexpected, irreverent and offbeat. Using props and other people is encouraged!

2. Post your shot on Instagram with the hashtags #19Poses and #MarthaGraham and tag a woman who inspires you.

3. Keep an eye on the Martha Graham Dance Company Instagram account. The company will be resharing top submissions there, and will send their five faves a gift bag of Graham swag.

The contest runs through August 18, 2020—the 100th anniversary of the 19th amendment. So get creative, and get posting!