Martha Graham was an American modern dancer, teacher and choreographer responsible for creating the Graham technique that reshaped American dance and is still taught worldwide. Graham danced and taught for over seventy years. She was the first dancer to perform at the White House, travel abroad as a cultural ambassador, and receive the highest civilian award of the US: the Presidential Medal of Freedom with Distinction. In her lifetime she received honors including the Key to the City of Paris and Japan's Imperial Order of the Precious Crown.