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{{short description|Genre of western concert or theatrical dance}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{
[[File:Martha Graham 1948.jpg|thumb|[[Martha Graham]] in 1948]]
'''Modern dance''' is a broad genre of western [[concert dance|concert or theatrical dance]] which
In the late 19th century, modern dance artists such as [[Isadora Duncan]], [[Maud Allan]], and [[Loie Fuller]] were pioneering new forms and practices in what is now called
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]] artists would reject the formalism of modern dance, and include elements such as [[performance art]], [[contact improvisation]], [[release technique]], and improvisation.<ref name="Foulkes 2002" /><ref>{{cite book|last=Scheff|first=Helene |author2=Marty Sprague |author3=Susan McGreevy-Nichols |title=Exploring dance forms and styles: a guide to concert, world, social, and historical dance|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=phJqR8gMWRUC&q=%22Contemporary+dance%22&pg=PA87|year=2010|publisher=Human Kinetics|isbn=978-0-7360-8023-1|page=87}}</ref>
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{{Main|Free dance}}
*[[Isadora Duncan]] (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]] 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]] 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.<ref name="EB" /><ref name="Kennedy Center" /><ref name="Foulkes 2002" /><ref>{{Cite web|title=Isadora Duncan {{!}} Biography, Dances, Technique, & Facts|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Isadora-Duncan|access-date=2021-02-01|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en|archive-date=28 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210128032032/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Isadora-Duncan|url-status=live}}</ref>
*[[Loie Fuller]] (born in 1862) was a [[burlesque]] "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.<ref name="EB" /><ref name="Kennedy Center" /><ref name="Foulkes 2002" />
*[[Ruth St. Denis]] (born in 1879) influenced by the actress [[Sarah Bernhardt]] and Japanese dancer [[Sada Yacco]], developed her ''translations'' of [[India]]n culture and [[mythology]]. Her performances quickly became popular and she toured extensively while researching Asian culture and arts.<ref name="Foulkes 2002" />
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{{See also|Expressionist dance|Ausdruckstanz}}
In Europe, [[Mary Wigman]] in Germany, [[Francois Delsarte]], [[Émile Jaques-Dalcroze]] ([[Eurhythmics]]), and [[Rudolf Laban]] 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]] ([[Ausdruckstanz]]) and [[Harald Kreutzberg]].<ref name=Muller-1986>{{cite book| last=Müller| first=Hedwig| editor=Climenhaga, Royd
==Radical dance==
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* [[Hanya Holm]] - A student of [[Mary Wigman]] and an instructor at the Wigman School in [[Dresden]], founded the New York Wigman School of Dance in 1931 (which became the Hanya Holm Studio in 1936) introducing Wigman technique, [[Rudolf 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 [[copyright]]ed in the [[United States]]. Holm choreographed extensively in the fields of [[concert dance]] and [[musical theater]].<ref name="Foulkes 2002" /><ref>Ware, Susan. "Notable American Women". Harvard University Press, 2004, p. 305-306.</ref>
* [[Anna Sokolow]] - A student of Martha Graham and Louis Horst, Sokolow created her own dance company (
* [[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
* [[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.<ref name="Foulkes 2002" />
* [[Erick Hawkins]] - A student of [[George Balanchine]], 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 [[Somatics#Dance practices|somatic dance]] techniques.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Kisselgoff|first1=Anna|author-link=Anna Kisselgoff |title=Erick Hawkins, a Pioneering Choreographer of American Dance, Is Dead at 85 | work=[[The New York Times]] |date=24 November 1994 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/11/24/obituaries/erick-hawkins-a-pioneering-choreographer-of-american-dance-is-dead-at-85.html?pagewanted=all |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160413113827/https://www.nytimes.com/1994/11/24/obituaries/erick-hawkins-a-pioneering-choreographer-of-american-dance-is-dead-at-85.html?pagewanted=all |archive-date=13 April 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Mazo |first=Joseph H |title=Erick Hawkins – dancer and choreographer – Obituary |journal=[[Dance Magazine]] |issue=February 1995 |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1083/is_n2_v69/ai_16686049/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090505020512/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1083/is_n2_v69/ai_16686049/ |archive-date=5 May 2009 | url-status=dead}}</ref>
* [[Paul Taylor (choreographer)|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.<ref>{{cite web |title=Paul Taylor |url=http://www.artsalive.ca/en/dan/meet/bios/artistDetail.asp?artistID=22 |publisher=Arts Alive |access-date=19 March 2021 |archive-date=14 April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160414072036/http://www.artsalive.ca/en/dan/meet/bios/artistDetail.asp?artistID=22 |url-status=live }}</ref>
* [[Alwin Nikolais]] - A student of [[Hanya Holm]]. 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.<ref>{{cite web |title=Alwin Nikolais |url=http://artsalive.ca/en/dan/meet/bios/artistDetail.asp?artistID=21 |publisher=Arts Alive |access-date=19 March 2021 |archive-date=7 June 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130607114327/http://artsalive.ca/en/dan/meet/bios/artistDetail.asp?artistID=21 |url-status=live }}</ref>
==In the United States==
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[[File:Martha Graham Bertram Ross 1961.jpg|thumb|Martha Graham and Bertram Ross in 1961; photo by [[Carl van Vechten]]]]
In 1915, Ruth St. Denis founded the [[Denishawn]] school and dance company with her husband [[Ted Shawn]].<ref>Cullen, Frank. "Vaudeville: Old & New". Psychology Press, 2007, p. 449.</ref> [[Martha Graham]], [[Doris Humphrey]], and [[Charles Weidman]] 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]]. [[Martha Graham]] is often regarded as the founding mother of modern [[20th century concert dance|20th-century concert dance]].<ref name=Origins>{{cite web|title=Origins of Contemporary Dance|url=http://dance.lovetoknow.com/Origins_of_Contemporary_Dance|access-date=28 February 2012|archive-date=31 March 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120331050146/http://dance.lovetoknow.com/Origins_of_Contemporary_Dance|url-status=live}}</ref>
Graham viewed [[ballet]] as too one-sided: [[Europe]]an, [[imperialistic]], and un-American.<ref name="Modern">{{cite web|title=Modern Dance Pioneers|url=http://www.groovygames.com/hinge/writing/articles/Beginner%27s%20Guide%204.htm|access-date=28 February 2012|archive-date=17 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181017014106/http://www.groovygames.com/hinge/writing/articles/Beginner%27s|url-status=live}}</ref> 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]].<ref name="five">{{cite web|title=Modern Dance History|url=http://www.contemporary-dance.org/modern-dance-history.html|access-date=28 February 2012|archive-date=22 February 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120222115421/http://www.contemporary-dance.org/modern-dance-history.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Graham developed her own [[dance technique]], [[Graham technique]], that hinged on concepts of [[Muscle contraction|contraction]] and release.<ref name="Origins" /> 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.<ref>Bird's Eye View: Dancing with Martha Graham and on Broadway/Dorothy Bird and Joyce Greenberg; with an introduction by Marcia B. Siegel, 1997</ref> Her principal contributions to dance are the focus of the ===Popularization===
In 1927, newspapers regularly began assigning dance critics, such as Walter Terry, and [[Edwin Denby (poet)|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]] 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."<ref>{{cite book |last=de Mille |first=Agnes |title=Martha : The Life and Work of Martha Graham |year=1991 |publisher=Random House |isbn=0-394-55643-7 |pages=20–30}}</ref> ===African American===
[[File:Alvin Ailey - Revelations.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|[[Alvin Ailey]] American Dance Theater perform "Revelations" in 2011.]]
[[African American dance]] blended modern dance with [[Africa]]n and [[Caribbean]] movement (flexible torso and spine, articulated pelvis, isolation of the limbs, and polyrhythmic movement). [[Katherine Dunham]] trained in ballet, founded ''Ballet Negre'' in 1936 and then the ''Katherine Dunham Dance Company'' based in [[Chicago]]. In 1945, she opened a school in New York, teaching ''Katherine Dunham Technique'', African and Caribbean movement integrated with ballet and modern dance.<ref>{{cite web |title=Katherine Dunham |url=http://kdcah.org/katherine-dunham-biography/ |publisher=Katherine Dunham Centers for Arts and Humanities |access-date=3 January 2021 |archive-date=25 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190825212326/http://kdcah.org/katherine-dunham-biography |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Aschenbenner |first=Joyce |title=Katherine Dunham: Dancing a Life |year=2002 |publisher=University of Illinois Press}}</ref> Taking inspiration from African-based dance where one part of the body plays against one another, she focused on articulating the torso in her choreography. [[Pearl Primus]] 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]]'', and [[Abel Meeropol|Lewis Allan's]] 1945 ''[[Strange Fruit]]'' (1945). Her dance company developed into the ''Pearl Primus Dance Language Institute''.<ref>{{cite web |last=Mennenga |first=Lacinda |title=Pearl Primus (1919–1994) |date=2008 |website=BlackPast |url=https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/primus-pearl-1919-1994/ |access-date=3 January 2020 |archive-date=6 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200306202917/https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/primus-pearl-1919-1994/ |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Alvin Ailey]] studied under [[Lester Horton]], [[Bella Lewitzky]], 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]] in [[New York City|New York]]. He drew upon his "blood memories" of [[Texas]], the blues, [[spirituals]] and [[Gospel music|gospel]] as inspiration. His most popular and critically acclaimed work is ''Revelations'' (1960).<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-11-17-bk-65405-story.html |title='Dancing the Night Away : Alvin Ailey: A Life in Dance'. By Jennifer Dunning (Addison-Wesley) : 'The Joffrey Ballet: Robert Joffrey and the Making of an American Dance Company'. By Sasha Anawalt (Scribner's) [book reviews] |date=17 November 1996 |work=[[The Los Angeles Times]] |access-date=3 January 2012 |archive-date=29 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190729150427/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-11-17-bk-65405-story.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/12/10/arts/dance-view-alvin-ailey-believer-in-the-power-of-dance.html|title=Alvin Ailey: Believer in the Power of Dance|last=Dunning|first=Jennifer|date=1989-12-10|work=[[The New York Times]]
==Legacy of modern dance==
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[[File:DanceworksStoneSoup.theora.ogv|thumb|upright=1.45|Danceworks rehearsal of "Stone Soup" in 2011 with semi-improvised music from composer Seth Warren-Crow and Apple iLife sound clip "Tour Bus"]]
[[Contemporary dance]] emerged in the 1950s as the dance form that is combining the modern dance elements and the classical [[ballet]] elements.<ref name=Diff>{{cite web |title=Difference Between Modern and Contemporary Dance |url=http://www.differencebetween.com/difference-between-modern-and-vs-contemporary-dance/ |access-date=18 March 2012 |archive-date=30 August 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120830054040/http://www.differencebetween.com/difference-between-modern-and-vs-contemporary-dance/ |url-status=live }}</ref> 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.<ref name="Origins"/><ref name=Contemporary>{{cite web |title=Contemporary Dance History |url=http://www.contemporary-dance.org/contemporary-dance-history.html |access-date=28 February 2012 |archive-date=2 January 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120102202937/http://www.contemporary-dance.org/contemporary-dance-history.html |url-status=live }}</ref> It incorporates modern European influences, via the work of pioneers like Isadora Duncan.<ref name=Origins2>{{cite web |title=Origins of Contemporary Dance |url=http://dance.lovetoknow.com/Origins_of_Contemporary_Dance |access-date=28 February 2012 |archive-date=31 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120331050146/http://dance.lovetoknow.com/Origins_of_Contemporary_Dance |url-status=live }}</ref>
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."<ref name=pquote>{{cite web |title=What Is Modern Dance? |url=http://dance.about.com/od/solodancestyles/p/Modern_Dance.htm |access-date=20 November 2013 |archive-date=7 April 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080407160730/http://dance.about.com/od/solodancestyles/p/Modern_Dance.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>
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[[Category:Articles containing video clips]]
[[Category:Dances]]
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