modern dance summary

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modern dance, Theatrical dance that developed in the U.S. and Europe in the 20th century as a reaction to traditional ballet. Precursors included Loie Fuller and Isadora Duncan. Formal teaching of modern dance began with the establishment of the Denishawn schools by Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn in 1915. Many of their students, principally Doris Humphrey and Martha Graham, further contributed to modern dance’s definition as a technique based on principles of fall and recovery (Humphrey) and of contraction and release (Graham). Movement often stressed the expression of emotional intensity and contemporary subjects rather than focusing on the formal, classical, and often narrative aspects of ballet. Later developments included a revolt in the 1950s against Graham’s expressionism, led by Merce Cunningham, whose choreography included ballet technique and the element of chance. See also Agnes de Mille; Hanya Holm; José Limón; Alwin Nikolais; Anna Sokolow; Paul Taylor; Twyla Tharp.

Merce Cunningham Summary

Merce Cunningham was an American modern dancer and choreographer who developed new forms of abstract dance movement. Cunningham began to study dance at 12 years of age. After high school he attended the Cornish School of Fine and Applied Arts in Seattle, Washington, for two years. He subsequently

Anna Sokolow Summary

Anna Sokolow American dancer, choreographer, and teacher noted for her socially and politically conscious works and her unique blend of dance and theatre choreography. She is also recognized for her instrumental role in the development of modern dance in Israel and Mexico. The daughter of Russian

Doris Humphrey Summary

Doris Humphrey was a pioneer in American modern dance and an innovator in technique, choreography, and theory of dance movement. Humphrey was an avid and talented student of dance from an early age. In 1917, after graduating from high school and teaching dance in Chicago for four years, she joined

Isadora Duncan dancing in an amphitheatre in Athens, photograph by Raymond Duncan, 1903.

Isadora Duncan Summary

Isadora Duncan was an American dancer whose teaching and performances helped to free ballet from its conservative restrictions and presaged the development of modern expressive dance. She was among the first to raise interpretive dance to the status of creative art. Although Duncan’s birth date is