Dance in Film · 1931
Heretic (1931)
The silent National Film Registry record preserves Martha Graham’s earliest revolutionary group modernism: a white-clad individual repeatedly confronting an implacable black-clad collective.
Heretic is a 1931 dance film centred on ballroom and social dance. For dancers, it's a chance to see the style performed on screen — the phrasing, partnering, and musicality that the same dances carry onto a real floor.
Jump to the 4 indexed dance sequences ↓
Where to watch: No legitimate public, subscription, or current retail stream verified as of 2026-08-08; the Library of Congress National Film Registry documents the preserved film.
The dance sequences in Heretic
4 sequences — what is danced, by whom, and where to find it.
Black semicircle and solitary woman in white
Graham TechniqueDanced by Martha Graham; Martha Graham Dance Group · Choreography Martha Graham
The immediate black-versus-white contrast, folded arms, parallel planted legs, and Graham's loose hair in profile.
The opening fixes the conflict in one stark composition: the black-clad chorus stands shoulder to shoulder in an inward-facing semicircle while Graham remains isolated outside it.
The full film is on YouTube; the link opens at this sequence. The official Martha Graham Dance Company archive playlist lists Heretic (1929) as a 4:51 video. LODance preserves the Library of Congress film date 1931; no edition-specific timestamp is asserted.
Final kneeling and prone collapse
Graham TechniqueDanced by Martha Graham; Martha Graham Dance Group · Choreography Martha Graham
Graham sinking to her knees, falling face down with hair over her face, and lifting her arms once more before becoming still.
Each rebuff drives the soloist lower until the final failed attempt ends in a prone collapse, completing the work's downward physical arc from appeal to defeat.
The full film is on YouTube; the link opens at this sequence. The official Martha Graham Dance Company archive playlist lists Heretic (1929) as a 4:51 video. LODance preserves the Library of Congress film date 1931; no edition-specific timestamp is asserted.
Heel-to-toe wall and folded-arm refusals
Graham TechniqueDanced by Martha Graham; Martha Graham Dance Group · Choreography Martha Graham
The thumping, monolithic chorus rearranging itself to block Graham's path, then snapping its arms across the chest.
The ensemble's stiff-legged heel-to-toe travel, planted stops, and sharply limited arm positions make social exclusion visible as a moving human barrier.
The full film is on YouTube; the link opens at this sequence. The official Martha Graham Dance Company archive playlist lists Heretic (1929) as a 4:51 video. LODance preserves the Library of Congress film date 1931; no edition-specific timestamp is asserted.
Repeated approaches to the closed chorus
Graham TechniqueDanced by Martha Graham; Martha Graham Dance Group · Choreography Martha Graham
The lone white figure advances toward the group again and again, only to meet another collective refusal.
Graham repeatedly seeks entry or acceptance and the ensemble denies her, turning repetition into the dance's central dramatic engine rather than decorative pattern.
The full film is on YouTube; the link opens at this sequence. The official Martha Graham Dance Company archive playlist lists Heretic (1929) as a 4:51 video. LODance preserves the Library of Congress film date 1931; no edition-specific timestamp is asserted.
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