John Martin (dance critic)

John Martin (June 2, 1893 - May 19, 1985) became America's first major dance critic in 1927. Focusing his efforts on propelling the modern dance movement, he greatly influenced the careers of dancers such as Martha Graham. Within his life he wrote several books on the modern dance and received numerous awards for his work.

John Martin's life leading up to his career may have led him to the success he later attained. Martin was born June 2, 1893 in Louisville, Kentucky and was immediately influenced by his mother's love of musical theatre. After his education at the Louisville Male High School, he held several jobs as actor, publicist, and editor in Louisville and New York. During World War I, he served in the Aviation Section of the Army Signal Corps, after which he returned to theatre working with the Chicago Little Theatre where he met his wife Hettie Louise Mick. They married in 1918. He also served as director and press agent for many different theatre projects. Over the years, Martin developed an interest in the actor/director/drama teacher Konstantin Stanislavsky's system which expressed the "dramatic impulses that arise within" Many have claimed that Stanislavsky's ideas influenced Martin's interest in modern dance because it displays this quality.

As a dance critic, Martin fought many preconceived ideas within the newly created genre of writing to become one of the most influential writers in dance history. Before there were actual designated dance critics, music and theatre critics were reluctantly sent to review ballets. Their writing would rant about the music and the symphony while almost completely disregarding the dancing. Following a series of Ted Shawn and Ruth St. Denis Carnegie Hall performances, petitions began to arise in favor of dance critics in New York news papers. The New York Herald Tribune quickly responded with Mary Watkins and a few weeks later, The New York Times appointed Martin in 1927. Martin saw it as his duty to spread "the gospel of the modern dance." As a dance critic, he and others were convinced they would not become a "subspecies of music criticism" and set out to prove this by educating the audience and the dancers in the ways of professionalism. His efforts brought modern dance to a level equal in stature and independent of music and theatre within the arts.

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