Professional Documents
Culture Documents
History
★ Formed in 20th century as a rebellion to ridged
ballet
★ modern dance technique
○ barefoot
○ uses mobility of spine
○ initiate movement from core
○ uses levels, including floor
★ Choreography based on concept
★ Choreographers had a desire to strip dance to
the essentials
★ No desire for the prettiness (ballet)
★ Based on the process of moving rather than the
product of the movement
Isadora Duncan 1st Gen
★ Influenced by the idea of the furture
★ Developed a “philosophy of dance”
based on spirituality
★ Advocated for the acceptance of “pure
dance” as an art form
★ Wore tunics like greek vase figures
which inspired her dances
★ Her technique used weaving and
whirling in natural movements
★ Corsets and modest clothes were
socially acceptable, Duncan wore
loose short clothes
Ruth St. Denis
★ Founded Denishawn
School and Dance
Company with husband
Ted Shawn
★ Used improvised exotic
movement and elaborate
costumes to
communicate the
ritualistic dance of Asian
religion
Martha Graham 2nd gen
★ Invented method of breathing and
impulse control called contraction and
release
★ Believed movement started in the
contraction of a muscle and continued
in the flow of energy released from
the body as the muscle is relaxed
★ Her dancers are known for their hard
angular look
★ Because she was so unique her
techniques were known as “ugly”
Doris Humphrey
★ Instrumental in founding Juilliard Dance Theatre in
New York City
★ Known as primary innovator of the new modern
dance
★ Fall and recovery was a technique and theory the
foundation of her teaching method
○ Inspired by the German philosopher Fredrick
Nietzche’s theory of the split in every persons
psych:Apollonian (rational and intelectual)
Dionysian side (choatic and emotiona)
○ true essence of modern dance is what
happened in between these two extremes
called “arc between two deaths”
Merce Cunningham
★ Former student of Graham
★ Worked with composer John Cage
★ Embraced modernist ideology using
postmodern processes
★ Used chance processes by rolling di or
drawing cards right before performances,
each number resembling a different dance
★ His work known for being non-linear, non-
climatic, non-psychological abstract work
★ Designed for audience to determine its
meaning
Alwin Nikolais-Today
★ first works choreographed in 1960
★ known for crazy props and costumes
○ props that extend dancers bodies; costumes
that make dancers look headless; dancers
used as props, visual, and auditory design
Alwin Nikolais-Today
Alvin Ailey- Today
★ Trained on West Coast
★ First integrated company
★ Commonly danced about racial issues
★ Died in 1989, Judith Jamison ran
company after him
3rd Gen - Post Modernism
Post modern movement was a
reaction to the 2nd Generation
modern dance philosophies.
★ desire to reduce movement to
it’s essentials.
★ No need for prettiness of ballet Trisha Brown- “Walking on the Walls”