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Katherine Mary Dunham (June 22, 1909 – May 21, 2006) was an

American dancer, choreographer, creator of the Dunham Technique,
author, educator, anthropologist, and social activist. Dunham had one of
the most successful dance careers in African-American and European
theater of the 20th century, and directed her own dance company for
many years.She has been called the "matriarch and queen mother of
black dance." Over her long career, she choreographed more than
ninety individual dances Dunham was an innovator in African-American
modern dance as well as a leader in the field of dance anthropology,
or ethnochoreology. She also developed the Dunham Technique, a
method of movement to support her dance works.

Martha Graham, (born May 11, 1894, Allegheny county, Pennsylvania,

U.S.—died April 1, 1991, New York, New York), influential American
dancer, teacher, and choreographer of modern dance whose ballets and
other works were intended to “reveal the inner man.” Over more than 50
years she created more than 180 works, from solos to large-scale
works, in most of which she herself danced. She gave modern dance
new depth as a vehicle for the intense and forceful expression
of primal emotions. Graham created 181 ballets and a dance technique
that has been compared to ballet in its scope and magnitude. Her
approach to dance and theater revolutionized the art form and her
innovative physical vocabulary has irrevocably influenced dance
worldwide.

José Limón, in full José Arcadio Limón, (born January 12,

1908, Culiacán, Sinaloa, Mexico—died December 2, 1972,
Flemington, New Jersey, U.S.), Mexican-born American modern dancer
and choreographer who expanded the repertoire of modern dance in
works that explored the strengths and weaknesses of the human
character.

José Limón was one of the most prominent American choreographers in

modern dance. His powerful choreography often focused on human
drama, incorporating themes from literature, history or religion.
Throughout his career, Limón worked to change the image of the male
in dance and bring it to a new stature and recognition.
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Bella Lewitzky (January 13, 1916, Los Angeles, California – July

16, 2004, Pasadena, California) was a modern
dance choreographer, dancer and teacher. Returning to Los
Angeles in 1946, Lewitzky and Reynolds, together with Horton and
William Bowne, cofounded Dance Theater, a unique interracial
institution, housing both a dance school and theater. They created
dances critical of religious fanaticism, bigotry, the violent
antisemitism of Nazi Germany, and the abuse of women. Notable
examples are The Beloved (1948) and Warsaw Ghetto (1949).
However, Lewitzky and Horton continued to disagree on the
artistic mission and financial management of the company,
including his decisions to create work for night clubs. At age fifty,
Lewitzky formed the Lewitzky Dance Company, and in 1971 the
company made its first cross-country tour into national
prominence, with Lewitzky lauded by New York critics for an
ageless and brilliant technique and a passionate performance
style, particularly in her solo On the Brink of Time (1969).

Lester Horton, (born January 23, 1906, Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.—

died November 2, 1953, Los Angeles, California), dancer and
choreographer credited with launching the modern dance movement
in Los Angeles and for establishing the country’s first
racially integrated dance company. In his short career he developed a
dance training technique that continued to be used by instructors into
the 21st century. Horton’s initial interest in movement was inspired
by Native American dance (he had been fascinated by Native
American culture since childhood) and by performances he saw by
modern dancers Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn and the Denishawn
Dancers. He began studying ballet as an adolescent at a studio
in Indianapolis. In 1925 he studied with Forrest Thornburg—a teacher
who had been trained at the Denishawn School of Dance—and then
moved to Chicago to study briefly with Russian American ballet
dancer and choreographer Adolph Bolm as well as at the school of
Andreas Pavley and Serge Oukrainsky. 

Philippine "Pina" Bausch (27 July 1940 – 30 June 2009)Always

provocative and never conventional, Pina Bausch’s raw and humanistic
approach to choreography propelled her to international fame, prompting
many to see her as the “godmother of European dance theatre.” Over her
40-year career, Bausch — who died on 30 June 2009 — deconstructed the
binaries of dance and drama; pleasure and pain; performance and
reality. Encouraging her casts to unearth their inner selves through
controversial rehearsal techniques, her unstructured performances featured
dancers running, howling and laughing across fantastical sets.
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Alwin Nikolais, (born November 25,

1910/1912?, Southington, Connecticut, U.S.—died May 8, 1993, New
York, N.Y.), American choreographer, composer, and designer whose
abstract dances combine motion with various technical effects and a
complete freedom from technique and established patterns. He
composed the music for his choreographic works, and designed the
sets, costumes and lighting for his performances. In 1987 he was
awarded the United States National Medal of Arts. Alwin
Nikolais gave the world a new vision of dance and was named the
“father of multi-media theater.” Nikolais not only created the
movements of his dancers and composed the electronic music
to which they moved, but also designed the lighting, scenery and
costumes. He experimented with slide projectors and film, and
magically made dancers change in appearance as they moved,

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
development of Modern Dance in Mexico and in Israel.
Sokolow created dances to music by classical composers and also by
20th-century composers, including Alban Berg (Lyric Suite), György
Ligeti (Moods, 1975), and jazz composer Teo Macero (Opus '65,
1965). Among her later creations were Tribute, in memory of Martin
Luther King, Jr.

Merce Cunningham, (born April 16, 1919, Centralia, Washington,

U.S.—died July 26, 2009, New York, New York), American modern
dancer and choreographer who developed new forms of abstract
dance movement. Cunningham began to study dance at 12 years of
age. In the 1990s, Cunningham pioneered the use of the computer
as a choreographic tool. The software DanceForms could model
and animate the human form, allowing Cunningham to visualize
sequences and phrases of dance on screen, which he would then
translate to a dancer's body.
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Loie Fuller, original name Marie Louise Fuller, (born Jan. 15, 1862,
Fullersburg [now part of Hinsdale], Ill., U.S.—died Jan. 1, 1928, Paris,
France), American dancer who achieved international distinction for
her innovations in theatrical lighting, as well as for her invention of
the “Serpentine Dance,” a striking variation on the popular “skirt
dances” of the day.

One of the first artists to drape the stage in black, she also
patented an arrangement of devices, including angled, lighted mirrors,
a floor fixture allowing illumination from below and a glass-topped
pedestal that “suspended” its occupant when lit from below. Her
personal life was equally colorful.

Isadora Duncan, original name (until 1894) Angela Duncan, (born

May 26, 1877, or May 27, 1878, San Francisco, California, U.S.—died
September 14, 1927, Nice, France), American dancer whose teaching
and performances helped to free ballet from
its conservative restrictions and presaged the development of modern
expressive dance. She was among the first to raise interpretive dance
to the status of creative art. Isadora Duncan was an American dancer
whose teaching and performances in the late 19th and early 20th
century helped to free ballet from its conservative restrictions and
presaged the development of modern dance. She was among the first
to raise interpretive dance to the status of creative art.

Ruth St. Denis, original name Ruth Dennis, (born January

20, 1879, Newark, New Jersey, U.S.—died July 21, 1968, Los
Angeles, California), American contemporary dance innovator
who influenced almost every phase of American dance. St.
Denis had a profound influence on the course of modern
dance in America, particularly through Denishawn, which was
the first major organized centre of dance experiment and
instruction in the country and whose students included Martha
Graham and Doris Humphrey.
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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 considered one of the most
important figures in the history of modern
dance.

Ted Shawn (born Edwin Myers Shawn;

21 October 1891 – 9 January 1972)
was one of the first notable male pioneers
of American modern dance. Along with
creating the Denishawn School with
former wife Ruth St. Denis he was also
responsible for the creation of the well-
known all-male company Ted Shawn and
His Men Dancers.

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
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from the traditional movements of dance forms popular at the time to create a
uniquely American style of movement.