History Of Modern Dance

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Modern dance is ever changing and always evolving. It’s a pioneering movement which is constantly absorbing new forms. Throughout the 20th century there have been several significant changes in the world of dance, from the pioneers of modern dance, the expressionist movement in Germany and the influence of African Americans. Modern dance reflects and inspires society, it encompasses many different styles and cultures and continues to move in different directions, challenging conventional roles of race, sexuality and gender. In the early 1920’s, European and American dancers began to rebel against the constraints of traditional ballet, in search for a freer movement vocabulary. American dancers Ruth St Denis (1879-1968), Isadora Duncan (1878-1927) and Loie Fuller (1879-1968) were spurred to find newer and freer forms of dance, derived from the dancer’s inner emotions. Rather than structured movements, as in traditional ballet, movement was created using emotions and moods, freedom of will, abstract thoughts and individual expression, working on the dancers own interpretations . Ballet dancers are light on the feet, creating a vision of weightlessness; modern dancers used gravity in their movements, rejecting the ballet stance of an upright, erect body. Modern dancers would often dance barefoot with revealing costumes. Martha Graham (1894-1991) is one of the pioneers of modern dance and focused on using basic human movements and contraction and release to express human emotions as a new language of movement. Using a free flowing, interpretive style that sought to restore the link between body and soul. Modern dance retained a narrative structure and was reinforced by music, costume and

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