MODERN DANCE

POWERPOINT

During the early 1900’s, ballet was still strong in it’s Classical form and with a new modern day form due to choreographers and dancers such as Diaghilev, Nijinsky, Balanchine, Tudor, Joffery

and Robbins. These dancers saw what was being created through modern dance and portrayed these new views through their choreography – some of which were even ballet.

Balanchine’s Apollo that was created in 1928…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUNQjjbozF8

Meanwhile modern dance was exploding; some were loving it while others still found it very odd and even inappropriate.

Modern Dance does not have a set definition due to it being born out of a revolt against any one

codified style. Instead it is about the underlying

philosophy of movement as individual expression.

Breaking new artistic ground initially meant discarding the entire classical ballet vocabulary

Such willingness to break the rules required strong-minded women and men

These women and men tended to have their own approach and their own beliefs about the nature of

movement and expression.

The “Roots” of modern dance lie in two directions…

a) Individual expression

b)Revolt against the establishment

Modern Dance “Trailblazers”

(A few amazing women (and ever fewer men) dared to blaze their own trail in developing a new way of dancing… a way that was respectful and artistic)

Isadora DuncanRuth St. Denis

Ted Shawn

Isadora DuncanIsadora Duncan’s desire was to create

movements that were natural and congruent for her body… and movements that were

inherently expressive.

It was Isadora’s ideas rather than her actual dancing that contributed

so much to the development of modern dance.

She wanted to create expression through movement, she began

taking ballet lessons, but eventually discarded what she saw as a

conforming and unnatural movement form to create her own.

Isadora LOVED children, she even adopted several of her own students.

She had a great desire to create a school in which her students could find their own way of expressing themselves through movement; unfortunately none of her attempts were successful.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPlN_gO5TOM

Ruth St. Denis Ruth St. Denis was

transformed by pictures in books of other lands and

people. She became interested in Indo-Asian

thought, art, and her interest was more theatrical than

scholarly.

Ruth St. Denis met and later married Ted Shawn in 1914.

DenishawnRuth St. Denis and Ted Shawn created

a school in Los Angeles called Denishawn. Unfortunately this school

no longer exists.

Denishawn was filled with classes teaching…

Ethnic, Barefoot, Ballet, Folk, Ballroom, And more

Modern Dance

“Pioneers”These dancers were called Pioneers because they learned from the Trailblazers, took their ideas, and

“ran with them”.

Martha GrahamDoris Humphrey

Lester Horton

A major contribution to modern dance during the Pioneer

timeframe was the development of a summer

dance festival at Bennington College in 1934. This would later become known as the

American Dance Festival.

Martha Graham

From Denishawn came… Martha Graham

Martha Graham is easily the most famous modern dancer of the time. She broke through

many barriers and pushed the envelope where it had never been done before.

She created nearly 200 works – many of which were considered masterpieces

Lamentation (1930)Lamentation is a piece that Martha Graham is highly known for. This piece is about one struggling with inner emotions and the need to express them knowing it is borderline inappropriate.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pb4-kpClZns

Martha Graham’s technique…“The Graham Technique” was

based on

contraction and release.This video shows a piece that

reiterates the use of contraction and release.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozu2M1nD1B4

Lester Horton

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pm7nHpS_JqE

Doris Humphrey

Characteristics of Modern Dance…

i. The torso was fully usedii. “new” movement vocabulary was explorediii. all levels of space were used (high/middle/low)iv. Costumes and stage designs were simple and starkv. Limbs were angled as well as curvedvi. Music was often written for the dance, or simple

percussion was used or silence was usedvii. Dancers performed wherever they could, ie. Lofts,

studios, small NYC theatres, college gyms, church basements (this was not an opera house art form!)

Modern Videos To Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uL1rB0GPIhI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zACQ0URYgmg(9/31/38)