Understanding Modern Dance: A Guide to Modern Dance

Modern dance is a highly expressive style of dance that challenges the structured dance technique of classical ballet. The focus of modern dance is expression, rather than following a rigid set of postures or technical positions that ballet dancers are trained in. Modern dance movements are considered freeform and fluid, and are often inspired by other dance styles—like African dance, ballet, and folk dance. Though modern dance technique is considered more relaxed and natural than ballet, it can require considerable core work and strength. Modern dancers often perform barefoot, in tight costumes that showcase the shapes of their bodies.

By the end of the nineteenth century, modern dance emerged as a new performing art that rebelled against the tight structure of traditional ballet. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, dancers Isadora Duncan and Loie Fuller popularized the dance form as a new style of artistry and entertainment with their lyrical, emotional performances.

Other modern dance pioneers include Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn, who founded the Denishawn School of Dancing and Related Arts in 1915 in Los Angeles. The Denishawn School trained the next generation of modern dancers such as Martha Graham, Charles Weidman, and Doris Humphrey, who took the Denishawn techniques and turned them into today’s American modern dance.

By the mid-twentieth century, modern dance became a popular form of dance that would spawn other styles of modern movement such as lyrical dance and contemporary dance, as well as birth a legacy of legendary performers—like Alvin Ailey, Katherine Dunham, and Twyla Tharp. Today, dance schools around the world offer modern dance classes to people of all ages.

Some recognizable traits of modern dance include:

1. 1. Freeform and improvisational. Modern dance is often described as fluid and freeform, alternating between long, languid movements, and jerky ones that show the contraction and expansion of the body. Some dancers create their own unique moves for routines or even use improvisation during their performances.
2. 2. It’s emotional. Modern dance expresses the emotion that the music evokes in the dances. Dancers essentially perform their feelings to music, conveying a raw or impassioned display.
3. 3. It rejects convention. Rather than striving for the weightlessness and grace of ballet, modern dancers use their body weight to propel themselves across the floor, often falling, tumbling, or rolling to express rhythm.

There have been many modern dancers throughout the decades who have left their legacy in the world of modern dance. Below are some of the famous names of the modern dance world.

1. 1. Alvin Ailey: Alvin Ailey was an African American dancer and one of Lester Horton’s mentees. After Horton’s death in the 1950s, Ailey became director of his company, choreographing his own works and performing in Broadway shows. Ailey aimed to highlight the Black experience and preserve the culture through his work, and in 1988, was awarded the Kennedy Center Honor for his contributions to American culture.
2. 2. Katherine Dunham: Katherine Dunham’s now-famous Dunham Technique was inspired by the dance cultures of the Caribbean, which she researched in depth. Dunham combines the dances of the African Diaspora with elements from ballet and modern dance, making something totally unique and groundbreaking.
3. 3. Martha Graham: Martha Graham is possibly one of the most recognizable names in modern dance. Starting her training at the Denishawn school of dance in 1916, Graham eventually became a teacher, continuing on to start her own acclaimed dance company in New York City, the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance. The “Martha Graham technique” experiments with the oppositions of contraction and release in the body, which has become a popular convention of modern dance.
4. 4. Lester Horton: Lester Horton founded his dance group in the 1930s, which became known for a signature theatrical style that addressed social, political, and satirical themes. Horton was a skilled choreographer who crafted routines for various Hollywood films and commercial projects.
5. 5. Doris Humphrey: Humphrey was one of the most significant early twentieth-century modern dancers and choreographers. She pioneered a number of techniques—like the “fall and recovery” method of breathing—that inspired many generations of dancers thereafter.
6. 6. José Limón: Inspired by his teacher Doris Humphrey, José Limón was best known for using his body weight and breathing techniques to elongate and mold his form to create emotional and powerful movements and gestures.
7. 7. Pearl Primus: Born in Trinidad, dancer Pearl Primus was heavily inspired by African dance and the Black experience, seeking to change the western myths of Africa and African people through her work. Primus was a kind of artistic activist, including elements of social justice and cultural awareness in her works.
8. 8. Paul Taylor: Taylor was a skilled choreographer who trained at the Juilliard School during the 1950s. Even after establishing his own dance company in 1954, Taylor continued to perform as a soloist with Martha Graham’s company until 1962. Taylor earned numerous distinguished honors for his contributions to the arts, including the Kennedy Center Honors in 1992, a National Medal of the Arts in 1993, and a Macarthur Foundation Fellowship.
9. 9. Twyla Tharp: Twyla Tharp is a classically disciplined dancer known for performing to a wide range of music genres, from classical to jazz to pop. Since the 1960s, Tharp has brought her avant-garde choreography to a number of stage, film, and television projects. Tharp continues to develop her experimental style in her performances today.
10. 10. Charles Weidman: Charles Weidman created his own style, called the “kinetic pantomime,” which consisted of sharp, snappy movements that gave his dancing an abstract quality. His dancing inspired other men to gravitate towards the form.

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