![Martha Graham 1948](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/09/Martha_Graham_1948.jpg)
Modern dance is a broad genre of western
concert or theatrical dance which included dance styles such as ballet, folk, ethnic, religious, and social dancing; and primarily arose out of Europe and the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It was considered to have been developed as a rejection of, or rebellion against,
classical ballet
Classical ballet is any of the traditional, formal styles of ballet that exclusively employ classical ballet technique. It is known for its aesthetics and rigorous technique (such as pointe work, turnout of the legs, and high extensions), its ...
, and also a way to express social concerns like socioeconomic and cultural factors.
In the late 19th century, modern dance artists such as
Isadora Duncan
Angela Isadora Duncan (May 26, 1877 or May 27, 1878 – September 14, 1927) was an American dancer and choreographer, who was a pioneer of modern contemporary dance, who performed to great acclaim throughout Europe and the US. Born and raised in ...
,
Maud Allan
Maud Allan (born as either Beulah Maude Durrant or Ulah Maud Alma Durrant;Birthname given as Ulah Maud Alma DurrantMcConnell, Virginia A. ''Sympathy for the Devil: The Emmanuel Baptist Murders of Old San Francisco'', University of Nebraska Pr ...
, and
Loie Fuller
Loie Fuller (born Marie Louise Fuller; January 15, 1862 – January 1, 1928), also known as Louie Fuller and Loïe Fuller, was an American actress and dancer who was a pioneer of both modern dance and theatrical lighting techniques.
Career
Bor ...
were pioneering new forms and practices in what is now called aesthetic or
free dance
Free dance is a 20th-century dance form that preceded modern dance. Rebelling against the rigid constraints of classical ballet, Loie Fuller, Isadora Duncan and Ruth St. Denis (with her work in theater) developed their own styles of free dance ...
. These dancers disregarded ballet's strict movement vocabulary (the particular, limited set of movements that were considered proper to ballet) and stopped wearing corsets and pointe shoes in the search for greater freedom of movement.
Throughout the 20th century, sociopolitical concerns, major historical events, and the development of other art forms contributed to the continued development of modern dance in the United States and Europe. Moving into the 1960s, new ideas about dance began to emerge as a response to earlier dance forms and to social changes. Eventually,
postmodern dance
Postmodern dance is a 20th century concert dance form that came into popularity in the early 1960s. While the term "postmodern" took on a different meaning when used to describe dance, the dance form did take inspiration from the ideologies of th ...
artists would reject the formalism of modern dance, and include elements such as
performance art
Performance art is an artwork or art exhibition created through actions executed by the artist or other participants. It may be witnessed live or through documentation, spontaneously developed or written, and is traditionally presented to a pu ...
,
contact improvisation
Contact improvisation is a form of improvised partner dancing that has been developing internationally since 1972. It involves the exploration of one's body in relationship to others by using the fundamentals of sharing weight, touch, and movemen ...
,
release technique, and improvisation.
American modern dance can be divided (roughly) into three periods or eras. In the Early Modern period ( 1880–1923), characterized by the work of Isadora Duncan, Loie Fuller,
Ruth St. Denis,
Ted Shawn
Ted Shawn (born Edwin Myers Shawn; October 21, 1891 – January 9, 1972) was a male pioneer of American modern dance. He created the Denishawn School together with his wife Ruth St. Denis. After their separation he created the all-male company Te ...
, and
Eleanor King
Eleanor Campbell King (1906–1991) was an American modern dancer, choreographer, and educator. She was a member of the original Humphrey-Weidman company, where she was a principal dancer in the pioneering modern dance movement in New York Ci ...
, artistic practice changed radically, but clearly distinct modern dance techniques had not yet emerged. In the Central Modern period ( 1923–1946), choreographers
Martha Graham
Martha Graham (May 11, 1894 – April 1, 1991) was an American modern dancer and choreographer. Her style, the Graham technique, reshaped American dance and is still taught worldwide.
Graham danced and taught for over seventy years. She wa ...
,
Doris Humphrey
Doris Batcheller Humphrey (October 17, 1895 – December 29, 1958) was an American dancer and choreographer of the early twentieth century. Along with her contemporaries Martha Graham and Katherine Dunham, Humphrey was one of the second gen ...
,
Katherine Dunham
Katherine Mary Dunham (June 22, 1909 – May 21, 2006) was an American dancer, choreographer, anthropologist, and social activist. Dunham had one of the most successful dance careers of the 20th century, and directed her own dance company for ma ...
,
Charles Weidman
Charles Weidman (July 22, 1901 – July 15, 1975) was a renowned choreographer, modern dancer and teacher. He is well known as one of the pioneers of modern dance in America. He wanted to break free from the traditional movements of dance f ...
, and
Lester Horton
Lester Iradell Horton (23 January 1906 – 2 November 1953) was an American dancer, choreographer, and teacher. Early years and education
Lester Iradell Horton was born in Indianapolis, Indiana on 23 January 1906. His parents were Iradell and Poll ...
sought to develop distinctively American movement styles and vocabularies, and developed clearly defined and recognizable dance training systems. In the
Late Modern period ( 1946–1957),
José Limón
José Arcadio Limón (January 12, 1908 – December 2, 1972) was a dancer and choreographer from Mexico and who developed what is now known as 'Limón technique'. In the 1940s, he founded the José Limón Dance Company (now the Limón Dan ...
,
Pearl Primus
Pearl Eileen Primus (November 29, 1919 – October 29, 1994) was an American dancer, choreographer and anthropologist. Primus played an important role in the presentation of African dance to American audiences. Early in her career she saw the n ...
,
Merce Cunningham
Mercier Philip "Merce" Cunningham (April 16, 1919 – July 26, 2009) was an American dancer and choreographer who was at the forefront of American modern dance for more than 50 years. He frequently collaborated with artists of other discipl ...
,
Talley Beatty Talley Beatty (22 December 1918 – 29 April 1995) was born in Cedar Grove, Louisiana, a section of Shreveport, but grew up in Chicago, Illinois. He is considered one of the greatest of African American choreographers, and also bears the titles dan ...
,
Erick Hawkins
Frederick "Erick" Hawkins (April 23, 1909November 23, 1994) was an American modern-dance choreographer and dancer.
Early life
Frederick Hawkins was born in Trinidad, Colorado, on April 23, 1909. He majored in Greek civilization at Harvard Univer ...
,
Anna Sokolow
Anna Sokolow (February 9, 1910, Hartford, Connecticut – March 29, 2000, Manhattan, New York City) was an American dancer and choreographer known for the social justice focus and theatricality of her work, and for her support of the developm ...
,
Anna Halprin
Anna Halprin (born Hannah Dorothy Schuman; July 13, 1920 – May 24, 2021) was an American choreographer and dancer. She helped redefine dance in postwar America and pioneer the experimental art form known as postmodern dance and referred to hers ...
, and
Paul Taylor introduced clear
abstractionism
Abstractionism is the theory that the mind obtains some or all of its concepts by abstracting them from concepts it already has, or from experience.Geach, Peter (1957) Mental Acts - Their Contents and Their Objects. Routledge Kegan Paul. One may, ...
and
avant-garde
The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...
movements, and paved the way for
postmodern dance
Postmodern dance is a 20th century concert dance form that came into popularity in the early 1960s. While the term "postmodern" took on a different meaning when used to describe dance, the dance form did take inspiration from the ideologies of th ...
.
Modern dance has evolved with each subsequent generation of participating artists. Artistic content has morphed and shifted from one choreographer to another, as have styles and techniques. Artists such as Graham and Horton developed techniques in the Central Modern Period that are still taught worldwide and numerous other types of modern dance exist today.
Background
Modern dance is often considered to have emerged as a rejection of, or rebellion against, classical
ballet
Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...
, although historians have suggested that socioeconomic changes in both the United States and Europe helped to initiate shifts in the dance world. In America, increasing
industrialization
Industrialisation ( alternatively spelled industrialization) is the period of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an industrial society. This involves an extensive re-organisation of an econo ...
, the rise of a middle class (which had more disposable income and free time), and the decline of
Victorian social strictures led to, among other changes, a new interest in health and physical fitness. "It was in this atmosphere that a 'new dance' was emerging as much from a rejection of social structures as from a dissatisfaction with ballet." During that same period, "the champions of physical education helped to prepare the way for modern dance, and
gymnastic
Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, sh ...
exercises served as technical starting points for young women who longed to dance."
Women's college
Women's colleges in higher education are undergraduate, bachelor's degree-granting institutions, often liberal arts colleges, whose student populations are composed exclusively or almost exclusively of women. Some women's colleges admit male stud ...
s began offering "aesthetic dance" courses by the end of the 1880s.
Emil Rath, who wrote at length about this emerging art form at the time stated,
"Music and rhythmic bodily movement are twin sisters of art, as they have come into existence simultaneously...today we see in the artistic work of Isadora Duncan, Maud Allan, and others the use of a form of dancing which strives to portray in movements what the music master expresses in his compositions—interpretative dancing."
Free dance
![Isadora Duncan 1903](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6a/Isadora_Duncan_1903.jpg)
*
Isadora Duncan
Angela Isadora Duncan (May 26, 1877 or May 27, 1878 – September 14, 1927) was an American dancer and choreographer, who was a pioneer of modern contemporary dance, who performed to great acclaim throughout Europe and the US. Born and raised in ...
(born in 1877) was a predecessor of modern dance with her stress on the center or torso, bare feet, loose hair, free-flowing costumes, and incorporation of
humor
Humour (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English) or humor (American English) is the tendency of experiences to provoke laughter and provide amusement. The term derives from the humorism, humoral medicine of the ancient Gre ...
into
emotional expression. She was inspired by classical Greek arts, folk dances, social dances, nature, natural forces, and new American athleticism such as skipping, running, jumping, leaping, and abrupt movements. She thought that
ballet
Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...
was ugly and meaningless gymnastics. Although she returned to the United States at various points in her life, her work was not well received there. She returned to Europe and died in Nice in 1927.
*
Loie Fuller
Loie Fuller (born Marie Louise Fuller; January 15, 1862 – January 1, 1928), also known as Louie Fuller and Loïe Fuller, was an American actress and dancer who was a pioneer of both modern dance and theatrical lighting techniques.
Career
Bor ...
(born in 1862) was a
burlesque
A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects. "skirt" dancer experimenting with the effect that gas lighting had on her silk costumes. Fuller developed a form of natural movement and improvisation techniques that were used in conjunction with her revolutionary lighting equipment and translucent silk costumes. She patented her apparatus and methods of stage lighting, that included the use of coloured gels and burning chemicals for luminescence, and her voluminous silk stage costumes.
*
Ruth St. Denis (born in 1879) influenced by the actress
Sarah Bernhardt
Sarah Bernhardt (; born Henriette-Rosine Bernard; 22 or 23 October 1844 – 26 March 1923) was a French stage actress who starred in some of the most popular French plays of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including '' La Dame Aux Camel ...
and Japanese dancer
Sada Yacco
Sada Yacco or was a Japanese geisha, actress and dancer.
Early life
Sadayakko Kawakami was born July 18, 1871, the youngest of twelve children. "My grandfather on my mother's side was an assistant magistrate and rather famous, I hear. Our house ...
, developed her ''translations'' of
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
n culture and
mythology
Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrat ...
. Her performances quickly became popular and she toured extensively while researching Asian culture and arts.
Expressionist and early modern dance in Europe
![Bundesarchiv Bild 102-00989, Berlin, Tanzschule Laban](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e2/Bundesarchiv_Bild_102-00989%2C_Berlin%2C_Tanzschule_Laban.jpg)
In Europe,
Mary Wigman
Mary Wigman (born Karoline Sophie Marie Wiegmann; 13 November 1886 – 18 September 1973) was a German dancer and choreographer, notable as the pioneer of expressionist dance, dance therapy, and movement training without pointe shoes. She is con ...
in Germany,
Francois Delsarte,
Émile Jaques-Dalcroze
Émile Jaques-Dalcroze (6 July 1865 – 1 July 1950) was a Swiss composer, musician, and music educator who developed Dalcroze eurhythmics, an approach to learning and experiencing music through movement. Dalcroze eurhythmics influenced Carl O ...
(
Eurhythmics
Dalcroze eurhythmics, also known as the Dalcroze method or simply eurhythmics, is one of several developmental approaches including the Kodály method, Orff Schulwerk and Suzuki Method used to teach music to students. Eurhythmics was develope ...
), and
Rudolf Laban
Rudolf von Laban, also known as Rudolf Laban (German; also ''Rudolph von Laban'', hu, Lábán Rezső János Attila, Lábán Rudolf; 15 December 1879 – 1 July 1958), was an Austro-Hungarian, German and British dance artist, choreographer and ...
developed theories of human movement and expression, and methods of instruction that led to the development of European modern and
Expressionist dance. Other pioneers included
Kurt Jooss
Kurt Jooss (12 January 1901 – 22 May 1979)[Kurt Jooss]
Internationales Biographisches Archi ...
(
Ausdruckstanz) and
Harald Kreutzberg
Harald Kreutzberg (December 11, 1902 – April 25, 1968) was a German dancer and choreographer associated with the Ausdruckstanz movement, a form in which the individual, artistic expression of feelings or emotions is essential. Though largely fo ...
.
Radical dance
Disturbed by the
Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
and the rising threat of
fascism
Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy an ...
in Europe, the radical dancers tried to raise consciousness by dramatizing the
economic
An economy is an area of the Production (economics), production, Distribution (economics), distribution and trade, as well as Consumption (economics), consumption of Goods (economics), goods and Service (economics), services. In general, it is ...
,
social
Social organisms, including human(s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary or not.
Etymology
The word "social" derives from ...
,
ethnic
An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...
and
political
Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...
crises of their time.
*
Hanya Holm
Hanya Holm (born Johanna Eckert; 3 March 1893 – 3 November 1992) is known as one of the "Big Four" founders of American modern dance. She was a dancer, choreographer, and above all, a dance educator.
Early life, connection with Mary Wigman
Bo ...
- A student of
Mary Wigman
Mary Wigman (born Karoline Sophie Marie Wiegmann; 13 November 1886 – 18 September 1973) was a German dancer and choreographer, notable as the pioneer of expressionist dance, dance therapy, and movement training without pointe shoes. She is con ...
and an instructor at the Wigman School in
Dresden
Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...
, founded the New York Wigman School of Dance in 1931 (which became the Hanya Holm Studio in 1936) introducing Wigman technique,
Rudolf Laban
Rudolf von Laban, also known as Rudolf Laban (German; also ''Rudolph von Laban'', hu, Lábán Rezső János Attila, Lábán Rudolf; 15 December 1879 – 1 July 1958), was an Austro-Hungarian, German and British dance artist, choreographer and ...
'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
The American Dance Festival (ADF) under the direction of Executive Director Jodee Nimerichter hosts its main summer dance courses including Summer Dance Intensive, Pre-Professional Dance Intensive, and the Dance Professional Workshops. It also ho ...
in Bennington (1934). Holm's dance work ''Metropolitan Daily'' was the first modern dance composition to be televised on
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
and her
labanotation
Labanotation (the grammatically correct form "Labannotation" or "Laban notation" is uncommon) is a system for analyzing and recording human movement. The inventor was Rudolf von Laban (1879-1958), a central figure in European modern dance, who ...
score for ''
Kiss Me, Kate
''Kiss Me, Kate'' is a musical written by Bella and Samuel Spewack with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The story involves the production of a musical version of William Shakespeare's ''The Taming of the Shrew'' and the conflict on and off-stag ...
'' (1948) was the first
choreography
Choreography is the art or practice of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which Motion (physics), motion or Visual appearance, form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design ...
to be
copyright
A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, education ...
ed in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. Holm choreographed extensively in the fields of
concert dance
Concert dance (also known as performance dance or theatre dance in the United Kingdom) is dance performed for an audience. It is frequently performed in a theatre setting, though this is not a requirement, and it is usually choreographed and p ...
and
musical theater
Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movement ...
.
*
Anna Sokolow
Anna Sokolow (February 9, 1910, Hartford, Connecticut – March 29, 2000, Manhattan, New York City) was an American dancer and choreographer known for the social justice focus and theatricality of her work, and for her support of the developm ...
- 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
José Arcadio Limón (January 12, 1908 – December 2, 1972) was a dancer and choreographer from Mexico and who developed what is now known as 'Limón technique'. In the 1940s, he founded the José Limón Dance Company (now the Limón Dan ...
- 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.
*
Merce Cunningham
Mercier Philip "Merce" Cunningham (April 16, 1919 – July 26, 2009) was an American dancer and choreographer who was at the forefront of American modern dance for more than 50 years. He frequently collaborated with artists of other discipl ...
- A former ballet student and performer with Martha Graham, he presented his first New York solo concert with
John Cage
John Milton Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American composer and music theorist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading fi ...
in 1944. Influenced by Cage and embracing
modernist
Modernism is both a philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new forms of art, philosophy, an ...
ideology
An ideology is a set of beliefs or philosophies attributed to a person or group of persons, especially those held for reasons that are not purely epistemic, in which "practical elements are as prominent as theoretical ones." Formerly applied pri ...
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
Postmodern dance is a 20th century concert dance form that came into popularity in the early 1960s. While the term "postmodern" took on a different meaning when used to describe dance, the dance form did take inspiration from the ideologies of th ...
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
Frederick "Erick" Hawkins (April 23, 1909November 23, 1994) was an American modern-dance choreographer and dancer.
Early life
Frederick Hawkins was born in Trinidad, Colorado, on April 23, 1909. He majored in Greek civilization at Harvard Univer ...
- A student of
George Balanchine
George Balanchine (;
Various sources:
*
*
*
* born Georgiy Melitonovich Balanchivadze; ka, გიორგი მელიტონის ძე ბალანჩივაძე; January 22, 1904 (O. S. January 9) – April 30, 1983) was ...
, became a soloist and the first male dancer in Martha Graham's dance company. In 1951, Hawkins, interested in the new field of
kinesiology
Kinesiology () is the scientific study of human body movement. Kinesiology addresses physiological, anatomical, biomechanical, pathological, neuropsychological principles and mechanisms of movement. Applications of kinesiology to human health ...
, 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
The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most el ...
of Music and the
Connecticut College
Connecticut College (Conn College or Conn) is a private liberal arts college in New London, Connecticut. It is a residential, four-year undergraduate institution with nearly all of its approximately 1,815 students living on campus. The college w ...
School of Dance. In 1952 his performance at the
American Dance Festival
The American Dance Festival (ADF) under the direction of Executive Director Jodee Nimerichter hosts its main summer dance courses including Summer Dance Intensive, Pre-Professional Dance Intensive, and the Dance Professional Workshops. It also ho ...
attracted the attention of several major choreographers. Performing in the companies of
Merce Cunningham
Mercier Philip "Merce" Cunningham (April 16, 1919 – July 26, 2009) was an American dancer and choreographer who was at the forefront of American modern dance for more than 50 years. He frequently collaborated with artists of other discipl ...
,
Martha Graham
Martha Graham (May 11, 1894 – April 1, 1991) was an American modern dancer and choreographer. Her style, the Graham technique, reshaped American dance and is still taught worldwide.
Graham danced and taught for over seventy years. She wa ...
, and
George Balanchine
George Balanchine (;
Various sources:
*
*
*
* born Georgiy Melitonovich Balanchivadze; ka, გიორგი მელიტონის ძე ბალანჩივაძე; January 22, 1904 (O. S. January 9) – April 30, 1983) was ...
(in that order), he founded the
Paul Taylor Dance Company
Paul Taylor Dance Company, is a modern dance company, formed by dancer and choreographer Paul Taylor (1930—2018). The modern dance company is based in New York, New York and was founded in 1954.
Taylor originally performed in the companies of ...
in 1954. The use of everyday gestures and
modernist
Modernism is both a philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new forms of art, philosophy, an ...
ideology
An ideology is a set of beliefs or philosophies attributed to a person or group of persons, especially those held for reasons that are not purely epistemic, in which "practical elements are as prominent as theoretical ones." Formerly applied pri ...
is characteristic of his choreography. Former members of the Paul Taylor Dance Company included
Twyla Tharp
Twyla Tharp (; born July 1, 1941) is an American dancer, choreographer, and author who lives and works in New York City. In 1966 she formed the company Twyla Tharp Dance. Her work often uses classical music, jazz, and contemporary pop music.
Fr ...
, Laura Dean, Dan Wagoner, and Senta Driver.
*
Alwin Nikolais
Alwin Nikolais (November 25, 1910 – May 8, 1993) was an American choreographer, dancer, composer, musician, teacher. He had created the Nikolais Dance Theatre, and was best known for his self-designed innovative costume, lighting and production ...
- A student of
Hanya Holm
Hanya Holm (born Johanna Eckert; 3 March 1893 – 3 November 1992) is known as one of the "Big Four" founders of American modern dance. She was a dancer, choreographer, and above all, a dance educator.
Early life, connection with Mary Wigman
Bo ...
. Nikolais 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.
In the United States
Early modern dance
![Martha Graham Bertram Ross 1961](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f2/Martha_Graham_Bertram_Ross_1961.jpg)
In 1915, Ruth St. Denis founded the
Denishawn The Denishawn School of Dancing and Related Arts, founded in 1915 by Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn in Los Angeles, California, helped many perfect their dancing talents and became the first dance academy in the United States to produce a professiona ...
school and dance company with her husband
Ted Shawn
Ted Shawn (born Edwin Myers Shawn; October 21, 1891 – January 9, 1972) was a male pioneer of American modern dance. He created the Denishawn School together with his wife Ruth St. Denis. After their separation he created the all-male company Te ...
.
Martha Graham
Martha Graham (May 11, 1894 – April 1, 1991) was an American modern dancer and choreographer. Her style, the Graham technique, reshaped American dance and is still taught worldwide.
Graham danced and taught for over seventy years. She wa ...
,
Doris Humphrey
Doris Batcheller Humphrey (October 17, 1895 – December 29, 1958) was an American dancer and choreographer of the early twentieth century. Along with her contemporaries Martha Graham and Katherine Dunham, Humphrey was one of the second gen ...
, and
Charles Weidman
Charles Weidman (July 22, 1901 – July 15, 1975) was a renowned choreographer, modern dancer and teacher. He is well known as one of the pioneers of modern dance in America. He wanted to break free from the traditional movements of dance f ...
were pupils at the school and members of the dance company. Seeking a wider and more accepting audience for their work, Duncan, Fuller, and Ruth St. Denis toured
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
.
Martha Graham
Martha Graham (May 11, 1894 – April 1, 1991) was an American modern dancer and choreographer. Her style, the Graham technique, reshaped American dance and is still taught worldwide.
Graham danced and taught for over seventy years. She wa ...
is often regarded as the founding mother of modern
20th-century concert dance
Concert dance (also known as performance dance or theatre dance in the United Kingdom) is dance performed for an audience. It is frequently performed in a theatre setting, though this is not a requirement, and it is usually choreographed and p ...
.
Graham viewed
ballet
Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...
as too one-sided:
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
an,
imperialistic
Imperialism is the state policy, practice, or advocacy of extending power and dominion, especially by direct territorial acquisition or by gaining political and economic control of other areas, often through employing hard power (economic
...
, and un-American.
She became a student at the Denishawn school in 1916 and then moved to
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
in 1923, where she performed in
musical comedies
Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movemen ...
,
music halls
Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as variety. Perceptions of a distinction in Bri ...
, and worked on her own
choreography
Choreography is the art or practice of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which Motion (physics), motion or Visual appearance, form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design ...
.
Graham developed her own
dance technique,
Graham technique
Graham technique is a modern dance movement style and pedagogy created by American dancer and choreographer Martha Graham (1894–1991). Graham technique has been called the "cornerstone" of American modern dance, and has been taught worldwi ...
, that hinged on concepts of
contraction
Contraction may refer to:
Linguistics
* Contraction (grammar), a shortened word
* Poetic contraction, omission of letters for poetic reasons
* Elision, omission of sounds
** Syncope (phonology), omission of sounds in a word
* Synalepha, merged ...
and release.
In Graham's teachings, she wanted her students to "Feel". To "Feel", means having a heightened sense of awareness of being grounded to the floor while, at the same time, feeling the energy throughout your entire body, extending it to the audience. Her principal contributions to dance are the focus of the ‘center’ of the body (as contrast to ballet's emphasis on limbs), coordination between
breathing
Breathing (or ventilation) is the process of moving air into and from the lungs to facilitate gas exchange with the internal environment, mostly to flush out carbon dioxide and bring in oxygen.
All aerobic creatures need oxygen for cellular ...
and
movement, and a dancer's relationship with the floor.
Popularization
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, established at
Bennington College
Bennington College is a private liberal arts college in Bennington, Vermont. Founded in 1932 as a women's college, it became co-educational in 1969. It claims to be the first college to include visual and performing arts as an equal partner in ...
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."
African American
African American dance blended modern dance with
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
n and
Caribbean
The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...
movement (flexible torso and spine, articulated pelvis, isolation of the limbs, and polyrhythmic movement).
Katherine Dunham
Katherine Mary Dunham (June 22, 1909 – May 21, 2006) was an American dancer, choreographer, anthropologist, and social activist. Dunham had one of the most successful dance careers of the 20th century, and directed her own dance company for ma ...
trained in ballet, founded ''Ballet Negre'' in 1936 and then the ''Katherine Dunham Dance Company'' based in
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
. In 1945, she opened a school in New York, teaching ''Katherine Dunham Technique'', African and Caribbean movement integrated with ballet and modern dance.
Pearl Primus
Pearl Eileen Primus (November 29, 1919 – October 29, 1994) was an American dancer, choreographer and anthropologist. Primus played an important role in the presentation of African dance to American audiences. Early in her career she saw the n ...
drew on African and Caribbean dances to create strong dramatic works characterized by large leaps. She often based her dances on the work of black writers and on racial issues, such as
Langston Hughes's 1944 ''
The Negro Speaks of Rivers
"The Negro Speaks of Rivers" is a poem by American writer Langston Hughes. Hughes wrote the poem when he was 17 and crossing the Mississippi River on the way to visit his father in Mexico. It was first published the following year in ''The Crisi ...
'', and
Lewis Allan's 1945 ''
Strange Fruit'' (1945). Her dance company developed into the ''Pearl Primus Dance Language Institute''.
Alvin Ailey
Alvin Ailey Jr. (January 5, 1931 – December 1, 1989) was an American dancer, director, choreographer, and activist who founded the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (AAADT). He created AAADT and its affiliated Alvin Ailey American Dance Cente ...
studied under
Lester Horton
Lester Iradell Horton (23 January 1906 – 2 November 1953) was an American dancer, choreographer, and teacher. Early years and education
Lester Iradell Horton was born in Indianapolis, Indiana on 23 January 1906. His parents were Iradell and Poll ...
,
Bella Lewitzky
Bella Lewitzky (January 13, 1916, Los Angeles, California – July 16, 2004, Pasadena, California) was a modern dance choreographer, dancer and teacher.
Biography
Born to Jewish Russian immigrants, Lewitzky spent her childhood on a ranch in San ...
, and later Martha Graham. He spent several years working in both concert and theater dance. In 1958, Ailey and a group of young African-American dancers performed as the
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (AAADT) is a modern dance company based in New York City. It was founded in 1958 by choreographer and dancer Alvin Ailey. It is made up of 32 dancers, led by artistic director Robert Battle and associate a ...
in
New York. He drew upon his "blood memories" of
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
, the blues,
spirituals
Spirituals (also known as Negro spirituals, African American spirituals, Black spirituals, or spiritual music) is a genre of Christian music that is associated with Black Americans, which merged sub-Saharan African cultural heritage with the ex ...
and
gospel
Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...
as inspiration. His most popular and critically acclaimed work is ''Revelations'' (1960).
Legacy of modern dance
The legacy of modern dance can be seen in lineage of
20th-century concert dance
Concert dance (also known as performance dance or theatre dance in the United Kingdom) is dance performed for an audience. It is frequently performed in a theatre setting, though this is not a requirement, and it is usually choreographed and p ...
forms. Although often producing divergent dance forms, many seminal dance artists share a common heritage that can be traced back to free dance.
Postmodern dance
Postmodern dance
Postmodern dance is a 20th century concert dance form that came into popularity in the early 1960s. While the term "postmodern" took on a different meaning when used to describe dance, the dance form did take inspiration from the ideologies of th ...
developed in the 1960s in United States when society questioned truths and
ideologies
An ideology is a set of beliefs or philosophies attributed to a person or group of persons, especially those held for reasons that are not purely epistemic, in which "practical elements are as prominent as theoretical ones." Formerly applied pri ...
in
politics
Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...
and
art
Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas.
There is no generally agreed definition of wha ...
. This period was marked by
social
Social organisms, including human(s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary or not.
Etymology
The word "social" derives from ...
and
cultural
Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human Society, societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, and habits of the ...
experimentation
An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs when ...
in the arts. Choreographers no longer created specific 'schools' or 'styles'. The influences from different periods of dance became more vague and fragmented.
Contemporary dance
Contemporary dance emerged in the 1950s as the dance form that is combining the modern dance elements and the classical
ballet
Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...
elements.
It can use elements from non-Western dance cultures, such as African dancing with bent knees as a characteristic trait, and
Butoh
is a form of Japanese dance theatre that encompasses a diverse range of activities, techniques and motivations for dance, performance, or movement. Following World War II, butoh arose in 1959 through collaborations between its two key founde ...
, Japanese contemporary dancing that developed in the 1950s.
It incorporates modern European influences, via the work of pioneers like Isadora Duncan.
According to Treva Bedinghaus, "Modern dancers use dancing to express their innermost emotions, often to get closer to their inner-selves. Before attempting to choreograph a routine, the modern dancer decides which emotions to try to convey to the audience. Many modern dancers choose a subject near and dear to their hearts, such as a lost love or a personal failure. The dancer will choose music that relates to the story they wish to tell, or choose to use no music at all, and then choose a costume to reflect their chosen emotions."
Teachers and their students
This list illustrates some important teacher-student relationships in modern dance.
![Laban and pupils](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Laban_and_pupils.jpg)
*
Loie Fuller
Loie Fuller (born Marie Louise Fuller; January 15, 1862 – January 1, 1928), also known as Louie Fuller and Loïe Fuller, was an American actress and dancer who was a pioneer of both modern dance and theatrical lighting techniques.
Career
Bor ...
*
Isadora Duncan
Angela Isadora Duncan (May 26, 1877 or May 27, 1878 – September 14, 1927) was an American dancer and choreographer, who was a pioneer of modern contemporary dance, who performed to great acclaim throughout Europe and the US. Born and raised in ...
—''Duncan technique''
*
Grete Wiesenthal
Grete Wiesenthal (9 December 1885 – 22 June 1970) was an Austrian dancer, actor, choreographer, and dance teacher. She transformed the Viennese Waltz from a staple of the ballroom into a wildly ecstatic dance. She was trained at the Vienna Co ...
*
Ruth St. Denis
**
Ted Shawn
Ted Shawn (born Edwin Myers Shawn; October 21, 1891 – January 9, 1972) was a male pioneer of American modern dance. He created the Denishawn School together with his wife Ruth St. Denis. After their separation he created the all-male company Te ...
—''Shawn Fundamentals''
**
Denishawn The Denishawn School of Dancing and Related Arts, founded in 1915 by Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn in Los Angeles, California, helped many perfect their dancing talents and became the first dance academy in the United States to produce a professiona ...
(school and company)
***
Doris Humphrey
Doris Batcheller Humphrey (October 17, 1895 – December 29, 1958) was an American dancer and choreographer of the early twentieth century. Along with her contemporaries Martha Graham and Katherine Dunham, Humphrey was one of the second gen ...
and
Charles Weidman
Charles Weidman (July 22, 1901 – July 15, 1975) was a renowned choreographer, modern dancer and teacher. He is well known as one of the pioneers of modern dance in America. He wanted to break free from the traditional movements of dance f ...
—''The Art of Making Dances'' (Humphrey)
****
Humphrey-Weidman school—''Humphrey-Weidman technique (fall and recovery)''
*****
José Limón
José Arcadio Limón (January 12, 1908 – December 2, 1972) was a dancer and choreographer from Mexico and who developed what is now known as 'Limón technique'. In the 1940s, he founded the José Limón Dance Company (now the Limón Dan ...
—''Limón technique''
***
Martha Graham
Martha Graham (May 11, 1894 – April 1, 1991) was an American modern dancer and choreographer. Her style, the Graham technique, reshaped American dance and is still taught worldwide.
Graham danced and taught for over seventy years. She wa ...
—''Graham technique'' (and
Louis Horst Louis Horst (born January 12, 1884, Kansas City, Missouri – died January 23, 1964, New York City) was a composer, and pianist. He helped to define the principles of modern dance choreographic technique, most notably the matching of choreography t ...
)
****
Erick Hawkins
Frederick "Erick" Hawkins (April 23, 1909November 23, 1994) was an American modern-dance choreographer and dancer.
Early life
Frederick Hawkins was born in Trinidad, Colorado, on April 23, 1909. He majored in Greek civilization at Harvard Univer ...
(via
George Balanchine
George Balanchine (;
Various sources:
*
*
*
* born Georgiy Melitonovich Balanchivadze; ka, გიორგი მელიტონის ძე ბალანჩივაძე; January 22, 1904 (O. S. January 9) – April 30, 1983) was ...
)—Hawkins technique
****
Anna Sokolow
Anna Sokolow (February 9, 1910, Hartford, Connecticut – March 29, 2000, Manhattan, New York City) was an American dancer and choreographer known for the social justice focus and theatricality of her work, and for her support of the developm ...
****
May O'Donnell
May O'Donnell (May 1, 1906 – February 1, 2004) was an American modern dancer and choreographer.
Born in Sacramento, California, May O'Donnell studied dance in San Francisco with Estelle Reed and performed in Reed's company before moving to New ...
****
Merce Cunningham
Mercier Philip "Merce" Cunningham (April 16, 1919 – July 26, 2009) was an American dancer and choreographer who was at the forefront of American modern dance for more than 50 years. He frequently collaborated with artists of other discipl ...
—''Cunningham technique'' (also see
Postmodern dance
Postmodern dance is a 20th century concert dance form that came into popularity in the early 1960s. While the term "postmodern" took on a different meaning when used to describe dance, the dance form did take inspiration from the ideologies of th ...
)
*****
Yvonne Rainer
Yvonne Rainer (born November 24, 1934) is an American dancer, choreographer, and filmmaker, whose work in these disciplines is regarded as challenging and experimental.
*****
Margaret Jenkins
Margaret Jenkins (born 1942) is a postmodern choreographer based in San Francisco, California. She was a Guggenheim Fellow in 1980 and in 2003, San Francisco mayor, Willie Brown, declared April 24 to be Margaret Jenkins Day.
Biography
Jenkins ...
*****
Steve Paxton
*****
Richard Alston
****
Paul Taylor
*****
Twyla Tharp
Twyla Tharp (; born July 1, 1941) is an American dancer, choreographer, and author who lives and works in New York City. In 1966 she formed the company Twyla Tharp Dance. Her work often uses classical music, jazz, and contemporary pop music.
Fr ...
****
Trisha Brown
Trisha Brown (November 25, 1936 – March 18, 2017) was an American choreographer and dancer, and one of the founders of the Judson Dance Theater and the postmodern dance movement. Brown’s dance/movement method, with which she and her dancer ...
****
Ohad Naharin Ohad () was the third son of Simeon; he is mentioned in Genesis 46:10.
Ohad may also refer to:
__NOTOC__ People Surname
* Daniella Ohad, American design historian
Given name
* Ohad Benchetrit, Canadian musician
* Ohad Cohen, goalkeeper for Hapo ...
*
Lester Horton
Lester Iradell Horton (23 January 1906 – 2 November 1953) was an American dancer, choreographer, and teacher. Early years and education
Lester Iradell Horton was born in Indianapolis, Indiana on 23 January 1906. His parents were Iradell and Poll ...
—"Horton Technique"
**
Bella Lewitzky
Bella Lewitzky (January 13, 1916, Los Angeles, California – July 16, 2004, Pasadena, California) was a modern dance choreographer, dancer and teacher.
Biography
Born to Jewish Russian immigrants, Lewitzky spent her childhood on a ranch in San ...
**
Alvin Ailey
Alvin Ailey Jr. (January 5, 1931 – December 1, 1989) was an American dancer, director, choreographer, and activist who founded the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (AAADT). He created AAADT and its affiliated Alvin Ailey American Dance Cente ...
*
Rudolf von Laban
Rudolf von Laban, also known as Rudolf Laban (German; also ''Rudolph von Laban'', hu, Lábán Rezső János Attila, Lábán Rudolf; 15 December 1879 – 1 July 1958), was an Austro-Hungarian, German and British dance artist, choreographer a ...
**
Kurt Jooss
Kurt Jooss (12 January 1901 – 22 May 1979)[Kurt Jooss]
Internationales Biographisches Archi ...
(
Ausdruckstanz)
***
Pina Bausch
Philippine "Pina" Bausch (27 July 1940 – 30 June 2009) was a German dancer and choreographer who was a significant contributor to a neo-expressionist dance tradition now known as . Bausch's approach was noted for a stylized blend of dance m ...
(
Tanztheater
The German Tanztheater ("dance theatre") grew out of German Expressionist dance in Weimar Germany and 1920s Vienna. The term first appears around 1927 to identify a particular style of dance emerging from within the new forms of 'expressionist d ...
)
**
Mary Wigman
Mary Wigman (born Karoline Sophie Marie Wiegmann; 13 November 1886 – 18 September 1973) was a German dancer and choreographer, notable as the pioneer of expressionist dance, dance therapy, and movement training without pointe shoes. She is con ...
(
Expressionist dance)
***
Ursula Cain
Ursula Cain (April 24, 1927 in Dresden – October 16, 2011 in Leipzig) was a German dancer and dance teacher.
Biography
The dancer and the dance teacher Ursula Cain began her dance education at the age of 12 years in the preparatory class of t ...
****
Heike Hennig
Heike Hennig (born 8 November 1966) is a German dancer, choreographer and director of the opera and dance ensemble "Heike Hennig & Co".
Life
Heike Hennig had her first dance lessons at the age of 5 years in Leipzig of East Germany, studied moder ...
(see ''
Dancing with Time
''Dancing with Time'' ''(Tanz mit der Zeit)'' is a film by about the autobiography Dance Theater ''Zeit – tanzen seit 1927'' by Heike Hennig.
Plot
Four dancers, nearing their eighties, take up the challenge of Heike Hennig to return to the ...
'')
***
Hanya Holm
Hanya Holm (born Johanna Eckert; 3 March 1893 – 3 November 1992) is known as one of the "Big Four" founders of American modern dance. She was a dancer, choreographer, and above all, a dance educator.
Early life, connection with Mary Wigman
Bo ...
****
Valerie Bettis
Valerie Elizabeth Bettis (December 1919 – 26 September 1982) was an American modern dancer and choreographer. She found success in musical theatre, ballet, and as a solo dancer.
Biography
Valerie Bettis was born on either December 19 or Dec ...
****
Alwin Nikolais
Alwin Nikolais (November 25, 1910 – May 8, 1993) was an American choreographer, dancer, composer, musician, teacher. He had created the Nikolais Dance Theatre, and was best known for his self-designed innovative costume, lighting and production ...
—''decentralization''
*****
Murray Louis
Murray Louis (November 4, 1926 – February 1, 2016) was an American modern dancer and choreographer.
Life
Louis was known as one of the most influential American modern dancers and choreographers. Born in Brooklyn, New York, he grew up in Manh ...
*****
Beverly Schmidt Blossom
Beverly Schmidt Blossom (August 28, 1926 – November 1, 2014) was an American modern dancer, choreographer, and teacher. She was an original member and soloist with the Alwin Nikolais Dance Theater, a modern dance choreographer for Illinois Danc ...
*
Émile Jaques-Dalcroze
Émile Jaques-Dalcroze (6 July 1865 – 1 July 1950) was a Swiss composer, musician, and music educator who developed Dalcroze eurhythmics, an approach to learning and experiencing music through movement. Dalcroze eurhythmics influenced Carl O ...
**
Mary Wigman
Mary Wigman (born Karoline Sophie Marie Wiegmann; 13 November 1886 – 18 September 1973) was a German dancer and choreographer, notable as the pioneer of expressionist dance, dance therapy, and movement training without pointe shoes. She is con ...
**
Marie Rambert
Dame Marie Rambert, Mrs Dukes DBE (20 February 188812 June 1982) was a Polish-born English dancer and pedagogue who exerted great influence on British ballet, both as a dancer and teacher.
Early years and background
Born to a liberal Lithuan ...
*
Katherine Dunham
Katherine Mary Dunham (June 22, 1909 – May 21, 2006) was an American dancer, choreographer, anthropologist, and social activist. Dunham had one of the most successful dance careers of the 20th century, and directed her own dance company for ma ...
—''Katherine Dunham Technique''
*
Pearl Primus
Pearl Eileen Primus (November 29, 1919 – October 29, 1994) was an American dancer, choreographer and anthropologist. Primus played an important role in the presentation of African dance to American audiences. Early in her career she saw the n ...
**
Garth Fagan
Gawain Garth Fagan, CD (born 3 May 1940) is a Jamaican modern dance choreographer. He is the founder and artistic director of Garth Fagan Dance, a modern dance company based in Rochester, New York.
Biography
Early years
Fagan was born in K ...
*
Helen Tamiris
Helen Tamiris (born Helen Becker; April 24, 1905 – August 4, 1966) was an American choreographer, modern dancer, and teacher.
Biography
Tamiris was born in New York City on April 23, 1902. She adopted Tamiris, her stage name, from a fragment ...
**
Daniel Nagrin
See also
*
Concert dance
Concert dance (also known as performance dance or theatre dance in the United Kingdom) is dance performed for an audience. It is frequently performed in a theatre setting, though this is not a requirement, and it is usually choreographed and p ...
*
List of dance styles
*
Women in dance
The important place of women in dance can be traced back to the very origins of civilization. Cave paintings, Egyptian frescos, Indian statuettes, ancient Greek and Roman art and records of court traditions in China and Japan all testify to the i ...
References
Further reading
*Adshead-Lansdale, J. (Ed) (1994) ''Dance History: An Introduction''. Routledge.
*Anderson, J. (1992) ''Ballet & Modern Dance: A Concise History''. Independent Publishers Group.
*Au, S. (2002) ''Ballet and Modern Dance (World of Art)''. Thames & Hudson.
*Brown, J. Woodford, C, H. and Mindlin, N. (Eds) (1998) (''The Vision of Modern Dance: In the Words of Its Creators''). Independent Publishers Group.
*Cheney, G. (1989) ''Basic Concepts in Modern Dance: A Creative Approach''. Independent Publishers Group.
*Daly, A. (2002) ''Done into Dance: Isadora Duncan in America''. Wesleyan Univ Press.
*de Mille, A. (1991) ''Martha : The Life and Work of Martha Graham''. Random House.
*Duncan, I. (1937) ''The technique of Isadora Duncan''. Dance Horizons.
*
*
*Foulkes, J, L. (2002) ''Modern Bodies: Dance and American Modernism from Martha Graham to Alvin Ailey''. The University of North Carolina Press.
*Graham, M. (1973) ''The Notebooks of Martha Graham''. Harcourt.
*Graham, M. (1992) ''Martha Graham: Blood Memory: An Autobiography''. Pan Macmillan.
*Hawkins, E. and Celichowska, R. (2000) ''The Erick Hawkins Modern Dance Technique''. Independent Publishers Group.
*Hodgson, M. (1976) ''Quintet: Five American Dance Companies''. William Morrow and Company.
*Horosko, M (Ed) (2002) ''Martha Graham: The Evolution of Her Dance Theory and Training''. University Press of Florida.
*Humphrey, D. and Pollack, B. (Ed) (1991) ''The Art of Making Dances'' Princeton Book Co.
*Hutchinson Guest, A. (1998) ''Shawn's Fundamentals of Dance (Language of Dance)''. Routledge.
*Kriegsman, S, A.(1981) ''Modern Dance in America: the Bennington Years''. G K Hall.
*Lewis, D, D. (1999) ''The Illustrated Dance Technique of Jose Limon''. Princeton Book Co.
*Long, R. A. (1995) ''The Black Tradition in Modern Dance''. Smithmark Publishers.
*Love, P. (1997) ''Modern Dance Terminology: The ABC's of Modern Dance as Defined by its Originators''. Independent Publishers Group.
*McDonagh, D. (1976) ''The Complete Guide to Modern Dance'' Doubleday.
*McDonagh, D. (1990) ''The Rise and Fall of Modern Dance''. Chicago Review Press.
*Mazo, J, H. (2000) ''
Prime Movers: The Makers of Modern Dance in America''. Independent Publishers Group.
*Minton, S. (1984) ''Modern Dance: Body & Mind''. Morton Publishing Company.
*Roseman, J, L. (2004) ''Dance Was Her Religion: The Spiritual Choreography of Isadora Duncan, Ruth St. Denis and Martha Graham''. Hohm Press.
*Shelton, Suzanne. Divine Dancer: A Biography of Ruth St. Denis. New York: Doubleday, 1981.
*Sherman, J. (1983) ''Denishawn: The Enduring Influence''. Twayne.
*Terry, W. (1976) ''Ted Shawn, father of American dance : a biography''. Dial Press.
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Modernism
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