Give audiobooks, support local bookstores! Start gifting
An Athlete of God by Martha Graham
  Send as gift   Add to Wish List

Almost ready!

In order to save audiobooks to your Wish List you must be signed in to your account.

      Log in       Create account
Illustration of person sitting

Shop small, give big!

With credit bundles, you choose the number of credits and your recipient picks their audiobooks—all in support of local bookstores.

Start gifting
Phone showing make the switch message

Limited-time offer

Get two free audiobooks!

Now’s a great time to shop indie. When you start a new one credit per month membership supporting local bookstores with promo code SWITCH, we’ll give you two bonus audiobook credits at sign-up.

Sign up today

An Athlete of God

A "This I Believe" Essay

$2.09

Narrator Martha Graham

This audiobook uses AI narration.

We’re taking steps to make sure AI narration is transparent.

Learn more
Length 5 minutes
Language English
  Send as gift   Add to Wish List

Almost ready!

In order to save audiobooks to your Wish List you must be signed in to your account.

      Log in       Create account

In this essay originally aired in the 1950s, legendary modern dance and ballet choreographer Martha Graham describes for NPR’s This I Believe series what it means to be a dancer, "An Athlete of God".

This I Believe is a National Public Radio program that features Americans, from the famous to the unknown, completing the thought that begins with the series title. The pieces that make up the program compel listeners to re-think not only what and how they have arrived at their own personal beliefs, but also the extent to which they share them with others.

Featuring a star-studded list of contributors that includes John McCain, Isabel Allende, and Colin Powell, as well as pieces from the original 1950's series including Helen Keller and Jackie Robinson, the This I Believe book collection also contains essays by a Brooklyn lawyer, a woman who sells yellow pages advertising in Fort Worth, TX and a man who serves on the state of Rhode Island's parole board. The result is a stirring, funny and always provocative trip inside the minds and hearts of a diverse group of Americans whose beliefs, and the incredibly varied ways in which they choose to express them, reveal the American spirit at its best.

This short audio essay is an excerpt from the audiobook edition of NPR's This I Believe anthology.

Martha Graham (1894-1991) was "the Picasso of Dance," a master dancer and choreographer who pioneered modern dance in the United States. Best known for choreographing Aaron Copland's Pulitzer Prize-winning Appalachian Spring, she received honors including the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom and induction into the National Museum of Dance's Hall of Fame.

Martha Graham (1894-1991) was "the Picasso of Dance," a master dancer and choreographer who pioneered modern dance in the United States. Best known for choreographing Aaron Copland's Pulitzer Prize-winning Appalachian Spring, she received honors including the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom and induction into the National Museum of Dance's Hall of Fame.

Illustration of person sitting

Shop small, give big!

With credit bundles, you choose the number of credits and your recipient picks their audiobooks—all in support of local bookstores.

Start gifting
Phone showing make the switch message

Limited-time offer

Get two free audiobooks!

Now’s a great time to shop indie. When you start a new one credit per month membership supporting local bookstores with promo code SWITCH, we’ll give you two bonus audiobook credits at sign-up.

Sign up today
Give audiobooks, support local bookstores! Start gifting