Time 23Mar2020

(Frankie) #1
Time March 16–23, 2020

DIDRIKSON, FAR RIGHT, WON
THE 80-M HURDLES AT THE 1932
LOS ANGELES OLYMPICS

1930s

1931


Maria Montessori
Rethinking the classroom


In thousands of classrooms around the
world, as children work independently
to solve math problems with beads


and learn the alphabet with sandpaper
letters, their activities can be traced


back a century to Maria
Montessori’s radical edu-
cational philosophy.


One of the first fe-
male physicians in Italy,
Montessori developed


early-childhood teaching methods that
made the student a respected collabo-


rator and independent thinker, rather
than the submissive pupils of yore. In
1931, she trained teachers through her


Association Montessori Internationale
and hosted Mahatma Gandhi, who sup-
ported the use of her methods in India.


Her approach has educated generations.
—Katie Reilly


1930


Martha Graham


The deity of modern dance


In 1930, choreographer Martha Graham


debuted Lamentation, a wrenching
solo piece in which a shrouded and
self-bound figure twists and writhes,


contracted into her pain and the search
for its release. Created in contrast to
male-dominated Russian and European


schools—and the
decorative roles they
gave female dancers—
Graham’s work laid
the foundation for
contemporary dance.
Her technique uses the power of the
pelvis, controlled breath and weighted


movement to embody a ritualized way
of inhabiting the feminine form. In
reflecting visceral elements of universal


human experience and collective
memory, Graham asks us to move not


just our bodies, but our souls.
—Marisa Tomei


Tomei is an Oscar-winning actor


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