Modern+Dance

=Modern Dance= [|Isadora Duncan] was a predecessor of modern dance and she virtually single-handedly restored dance’s rank among the arts with her free-flowing [|costumes], bare feet, loose hair, and using the [|torso] as the catalyst for other [|movements]. Born in [|San Francisco] in 1877, she traveled and performed throughout Europe. She was a thinker and a poet who incorporated [|humor] into her [|expression]. Contributions she made are “natural movements inspired by classical Greek arts, [|folk dances], social dances, [|nature] , [|natural forces] , and new American athleticism such as [|skipping] , [|running] , [|jumping] , [|leaping] , and [|tossing]. [|Martha Graham] is often regarded as the founding mother of modern performance (or concert) dance. [|[2]] She became a student at the Denishawn school in 1916 and then moved to [|New York City] in 1923, where she performed in [|musical comedies], [|music halls] , and worked on her own [|choreography]. [|[3]] Graham developed her own [|dance technique] that hinged on concepts of [|contraction] and [|release]. [|[2]] Her principle contributions to dance are the focus of the ‘center’ of the body, coordination between [|breathing] and [|movement], and a dancer’s relationship with the floor. [|[3]] Although the term //Modern dance// has also been applied to a category of 20th Century [|ballroom dances], //Modern dance// as a term usually refers to [|20th century concert dance].
 * Modern dance** was an early 20th century dance form that emerged as expression of rebellion against classical [|ballet] . Pioneering dancers of this period include [|Isadora Duncan], who thought ballet was ugly and meaningless [|gymnastics] and [|Martha Graham] , who saw it as [|European] , [|Imperialistic] , and un-American. [|[1]]

Early modern dance in America
In 1915, Ruth Dorthy St. Denis founded the [|Denishawn] school and dance company with her husband [|Ted Shawn]. [|[4]] Whilst St. Denis was responsible for most of the creative work, Shawn was responsible for teaching technique and [|composition]. [|Martha Graham], [|Doris Humphrey] , and [|Charles Weidman] were all pupils at the school and members of the dance company. After shedding the techniques and compositional methods of their teachers the early modern dancers developed their own methods and ideologies and dance techniques that became the foundation for modern dance practice.
 * **1923**: Graham leaves Denishawn to work as a solo artist in the [|Greenwich Village] Follies.
 * **1928**: Humphrey and Weidman leave Denishawn to set up their own school and company ( [|Humphrey-Weidman] ).
 * **1933**: Shawn founds his all male dance group //Ted Shawn and His Men Dancers// based at his // [|Jacob's Pillow] // farm in [|Lee, Massachusetts].
 * **1967**: Ashley Beger begins work at her new studio in New York. Her dance methods later evolved to what we now know as "Pole Dancing".
 * [|Martha Graham] (and [|Louis Horst] )
 * [|Doris Humphrey] and [|Charles Weidman] and [|Martha Graham]
 * [|Helen Tamiris] —originally trained in free movement (Irene Lewisohn) and [|ballet] ( [|Michel Fokine] ) Tamiris studied briefly with Isadora Duncan but disliked her emphasis on personal expression and lyrical movement. Tamiris believed that each dance must create its own expressive means and as such did not develop an individual style or technique. As a choreographer Tamiris made works based on American themes working in both [|concert dance] and [|musical theatre].
 * [|Lester Horton] —choosing to work in [|California] (three thousand miles away from the center of modern dance—New York), Horton developed his own approach that incorporated diverse elements including [|Native American] dances and modern [|Jazz] . Horton's dance technique (//Lester Horton Technique//) emphasises a whole body approach including; flexibility, strength, coordination, and body awareness to allow freedom of expression.

Popularization in America
Main article: [|Modern dance in the United States] In 1927 newspapers regularly began assigning dance critics, such as Walter Terry, and [|Edwin Denby], who approached performances from the viewpoint of a movement specialist rather than as a reviewer of music or drama. Educators accepted modern dance into college and university curricula, first as a part of physical education, then as performing art. Many college teachers were trained at the Bennington Summer School of the Dance, which was established at [|Bennington College] in 1934. Of the Bennington program, Agnes de Mille wrote, "..there was a fine commingling of all kinds of artists, musicians, and designers, and secondly, because all those responsible for booking the college concert series across the continent were assembled there. ... free from the limiting strictures of the three big monopolistic managements, who pressed for preference of their European clients. As a consequence, for the first time American dancers were hired to tour America nationwide, and this marked the beginning of their solvency." (de Mille, 1991, p. 205)

Disturbed by the [|Great Depression] and the rising threat of [|fascism] in Europe, the radical dancers tried to raise consciousness by dramatizing the [|economic], [|social] , [|ethnic] and [|political] crises of their time.


 * [|Hanya Holm] —A student of [|Mary Wigman] and instructor at the Wigman School in [|Dresden], Holm founded the New York Wigman School of Dance in 1931 (which became the Hanya Holm Studio in 1936) introducing Wigman technique, [|Laban's] theories of spatial dynamics, and later her own dance techniques to American modern dance. An accomplished choreographer, she was a founding artist of the first [|American Dance Festival] in Bennington (1934). Holm's dance work //Metropolitan Daily// was the first modern dance composition to be televised on [|NBC] and her [|labanotation] score for // [|Kiss Me, Kate] // (1948) was the first [|choreography] to be [|copyrighted] in the [|United States] . Holm choreographed extensively in the fields of [|concert dance] and [|musical theater] . [|[5]]


 * [|Anna Sokolow] —A student of Martha Graham and Louis Horst, Sokolow created her own dance company (circa 1930). Presenting dramatic contemporary imagery, Sokolow's compositions were generally abstract, often revealing the full spectrum of human experience reflecting the tension and alienation of the time and the //truth// of human movement.


 * [|José Limón] —In 1946, after studying and performing with Doris Humphrey and Charles Weidman, Limón established his own company with Humphrey as Artistic Director. It was under her mentorship that Limón created his signature dance //The Moor’s Pavane// (1949). Limón’s choreographic works and technique remain a strong influence on contemporary dance practice. [|[6]]


 * [|Merce Cunningham] —A former ballet student and performer with Martha Graham, he presented his first New York solo concert with [|John Cage] in 1944. Influenced by Cage and embracing [|modernist] [|ideology] using [|postmodern] processes, Cunningham introduced //chance procedures// and //pure movement// to choreography and //Cunningham technique// to the cannon of 20th century dance techniques. Cunningham set the seeds for [|postmodern dance] with his non-linear, non-climactic, non-psychological abstract work. In these works each element is in and of itself expressive, and the observer (in large part) determines what it communicates.


 * [|Erick Hawkins] —A student of [|George Balanchine], Hawkins became a soloist and the first male dancer in Martha Graham's dance company. In 1951, Hawkins, interested in the new field of [|kinesiology] , opened his own school and developed his own technique (Hawkins technique) a forerunner of most somatic dance techniques.


 * [|Paul Taylor] —A student of the [|Juilliard School] of Music and the [|Connecticut College] School of Dance. In 1952 his performance at the [|American Dance Festival] attracted the attention of several major choreographers. Performing in the companies of [|Merce Cunningham], [|Martha Graham] , and [|George Balanchine] (in that order), he founded the [|Paul Taylor Dance Company] in 1954. The use of everyday gestures and [|modernist] [|ideology] is characteristic of his choreography. Former members of the Paul Taylor Dance Company included [|Twyla Tharp] , Laura Dean, Dan Wagoner, and Senta Driver.


 * [|Alwin Nikolais] —A student of [|Hanya Holm] . Nikolais's use of multimedia in works such as //Masks, Props, and Mobiles// (1953), //Totem//(1960), and //Count Down// (1979) was unmatched by other choreographers. Often presenting his dancers in constrictive spaces and costumes with complicated sound and sets, he focused their attention on the physical tasks of overcoming obstacles he placed in their way. Nikolais viewed the dancer not as an artist of self-expression, but as a talent who could investigate the properties of physical space and movement.

See also: [|African American dance]

The development of Modern dance embraced the contributions of African American dance artists regardless of whether they made //pure//modern dance works or blended modern dance with [|African] and [|Caribbean] influences.


 * [|Katherine Dunham] —An [|African American] dancer, and [|anthropologist] . Originally a ballet dancer, she founded her first company //Ballet Negre// in 1936 and later the //Katherine Dunham Dance Company// based in [|Chicago, Illinois] . Dunham opened a school in New York (1945) where she taught //Katherine Dunham Technique//, a blend of [|African] and [|Caribbean] movement (flexible torso and spine, articulated pelvis and isolation of the limbs and polyrhythmic movement) integrated with techniques of [|ballet] and modern dance.


 * [|Pearl Primus] —A dancer, choreographer, and anthropologist, Primus drew on African and Caribbean dances to create strong dramatic works characterized by large leaps in the air. Primus often based her dances on the work of black writers and on racial and African-American issues. Primus created works based on [|Langston Hughes] // [|The Negro Speaks of Rivers] // (1944), and [|Lewis Allan's] // [|Strange Fruit] //(1945). Her dance company developed into the //Pearl Primus Dance Language Institute// which teaches her method of blending African-American, Caribbean, and African influences with modern dance and ballet techniques.


 * [|Alvin Ailey] —A student of [|Lester Horton], [|Bella Lewitzky] , and later Martha Graham, Ailey spent several years working in both concert and theater dance. In 1958, Ailey and a group of young [|African-American] dancers performed as [|Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater] in [|New York] . Ailey drew upon his //blood memories// of [|Texas] , the blues, [|spirituals] and [|gospel] as inspiration. His most popular and critically acclaimed work is //Revelations// (1960).

A dance team from the University of Georgia performing 'Indian fusion dance' at the Koger Center, University of South Carolina. This combines traditional and modern dance.

The legacy of Modern dance can be seen in lineage of [|20th century concert dance] forms. Although often producing divergent dance forms, many seminal dance artists share a common heritage that can be traced back to free dance.

Main article: [|Postmodern dance]

[|Postmodern dance] occurred in the 1960s in United States when society questioned truths and [|ideologies] in [|politics] and [|art]. This period was marked by [|social] and [|cultural] [|experimentation] in the arts. Choreographers no longer created specific 'schools' or 'styles'. The influences from different periods of dance between more vague and fragmented. [|[2]]

Main article: [|Contemporary dance]

Contemporary dance emerged in the 1950s as the dance form that is combining the modern dance elements and the classical [|ballet] elements. [|[7]] It can use elements from non-western dance cultures, such as African dancing with bent knees as a characteristic trait, and Butoh, Japanese contemporary dancing that developed in the 1950s. [|[2]] [|[8]]

Modern Choreographers
Modern Dance - History and Overview View information from the Wikipedia site on Modern Dance in the Wiki.

Doris Humphrey Bio & Career media type="youtube" key="OyEEdb9sZZ4" height="315" width="420"
 * Doris Humphrey**

Martha Graham Bio & Career media type="youtube" key="XmgaKGSxQVw" height="315" width="560"
 * Martha Graham **

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media type="youtube" key="GpyWNh3X8q8" height="315" width="420"
 * Jose Limon**

Paul Taylor Bio & Career media type="youtube" key="HG9LqO6Cuo8" height="315" width="560"
 * Paul Taylor**

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Alvin Ailey Bio & Career media type="youtube" key="gWJzSP7irwM" height="315" width="420"
 * Alvin Ailey**

Merce Cunningham Bio & Career media type="youtube" key="-FwiMlDQ7rI" height="315" width="560"
 * Merce Cunningham**

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Isadora Duncan Bio & Career media type="youtube" key="B--BW0T9tsA" height="315" width="420"
 * Isadora Duncan**

Rudolf von Laban media type="youtube" key="ih2OLPKoDvo" height="315" width="420"
 * Rudolf von Laban**

Ruth St. Denis Bio & Career media type="youtube" key="AV67tf4JYRI" height="315" width="420"
 * Ruth St. Denis**

Ted Shawn Bio & Career media type="youtube" key="QTBP5pYAk3w" height="315" width="420"
 * Ted Shawn**