Students in percussion class at Bennington School of Dance, 1936 (Thomas Bouchard)

It may be true that behind every great artist, there’s a great arts administrator. When it comes to modern dance, one woman stood behind countless greats of the 20th century, and this documentary gives her due credit.

Martha Hill was born at the dawn of that century in a small town in Ohio where “Theater was something that nice people didn’t do,” and “Dancing was beyond the pale.” She quickly escaped those Puritan roots and landed in New York City. By chance, she got a ticket to see Martha Graham. In her own words, it was an “instant conversion.” She joined Graham’s dance group, and then she started teaching at New York University to support herself. Here her true genius began to shine through. She was not destined for fame as a dancer or choreographer; her best moves would be behind the scenes, as a “collector of people.”

Chance again played a part when Hill happened to be in on the ground floor of Bennington College, where its ambitious president wanted the arts to be as an essential area of study as math and science. She started its summer training program, which served as a crucible for the modern dance movement. At the time, dance education, if it existed at all, was relegated to physical education departments. By having dance luminaries rub elbows and exchange ideas at Bennington, Hill began to make a case for the importance of the art form.

The watershed moment came when she created the dance division at the Juilliard School. In her selection of teachers, Hill irrevocably fused modern dance training with ballet, a revolutionary idea at the time, which has become standard procedure. Moreover, she was the glue that could hold a brilliant but difficult faculty together. Strong personalities like Anthony Tudor, José Limón, and Anna Sokolow all flourished under Hill’s guidance.

It wasn’t all pleasant. Miss Hill: Making Dance Matter chronicles the struggle fought between Juilliard and the New York City Ballet over funding and rehearsal space in Lincoln Center, when that performing arts institution was established. It was a David and Goliath contest, raising issues about our arts culture that should be compelling, even if one isn’t a dance enthusiast. The bitterness is still apparent as those who lived through the conflict recount it. And even Hill’s fans admit she had her fair share of discontents. Breaking a few spirits may be unavoidable in the pursuit of excellence, and it seems clear Miss Hill did not always handle with care.

Director Greg Vander Veer weaves interviews together some beautifully hypnotic sequences that merge dance rehearsals and performances from across a century. It’s quite a history to pull from, and Martha Hill is to thank for much of it.