Modern dance lesson six on the history of modern dance

October 27, 6:15 PMCincinnati Theater ExaminerElizabeth Crowe

Previous Next

Comment Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the Cincinnati Theater Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

Modern dance lesson 6: History of Modern Dance

Thank you to Clip Art

Modern Dance Lesson 6: The History of Modern Dance

As I reflected back upon last week's experiences at Cincinnati's Contemporary Dance Theater of throwing myself down on the floor repeatedly and previous weeks' lessons on purposefully throwing my body off balance, I wondered how modern dance became a dance at all.  I am used to taking ballet, a dance in which these things would never happen.  And truth be told, I knew little about modern dancing when I started taking Modern Dance I with Nicole Hunter other than that it was a dance type on 'So You Think You Can Dance.'  I wasn't even sure what separated modern dance from any other kind of dance.

In my research, I quickly learned that modern dance is about rebellion.  Ballet is considered formal and show dancing predictable.  Modern dance is about struggle, dissatisfaction with formality, and a blurring of reality, an attempt to convert pure emotion into movement.

Starting in the 1920's, two major events occurred: (1) French actor Francois Delsarte developed a system of natural expressive gestures; and (2) Swiss music educator Emile Jacques-Dalcroze originated eurythmics, the system for teaching musical rhythms through body movement.

In the 1960's and 1970's, as social upheaval surged, so did radical departures from traditional dance patterns.  It was all about excessive versions of simplified movements (like walking, breathing, and discovering new ways to manipulate the torso) and bare feet, a sort of throwing ballet slippers out the proverbial window. Like children wanting to overcome parental restrictions, leaders of modern dance set about to develop their own paths.  A concern for social problems and the freedom of the human spirit took hold in a dance all its own; but with a sense of theatricality and urgency that had not been present in ballet.

Doris Humphrey is to be credited for her technique of falling and recovering.  It is a working-out of how the individual relates to greater forces around oneself, such as gravity and social dynamics.

Karole Armitage further expanded the depth of modern dance by developing bold, piercing movements and a sense of being at war with the world.  And Sankai Juko grew the dance form of 'butoh,' which strives to return to a primal nature.  In their 'Hanging Event,' they hang upside down and slowly descend on ropes, uncoiling their bodies as they go.

A smidgen of people notable in the development of modern dance.  Of course there are many more, but these videos will provide a good idea of what modern dance is about.
Isadora Duncan
Loie Fuller
Ruth St. Denis
Mary Wigman
Martha Graham
Twyla Tharp

My research came from the following sources:
DanceHelp.com: A Short History of Modern Dance
Dance Live: History of Modern Dance
The History of Modern Dance (a video)