Contemporary dance
Encyclopedia
Contemporary dance is a genre of concert dance
Concert dance
Concert dance is dance performed for an audience. It is frequently performed in a theatre setting, though this is not a requirement, and it is usually choreographed and performed to set music.By contrast, social dance and participation dance may be performed without an audience and, typically, these...

(which is performed to an audience) that employs compositional philosophy, rather than choreography
Choreography
Choreography is the art of designing sequences of movements in which motion, form, or both are specified. Choreography may also refer to the design itself, which is sometimes expressed by means of dance notation. The word choreography literally means "dance-writing" from the Greek words "χορεία" ...

, to guide unchoreographed movement. It uses dance techniques and methods found in ballet
Ballet
Ballet is a type of performance dance, that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The early portions preceded the invention of the proscenium stage and were presented in large chambers with...

, modern dance
Modern dance
Modern dance is a dance form developed in the early 20th century. Although the term Modern dance has also been applied to a category of 20th Century ballroom dances, Modern dance as a term usually refers to 20th century concert dance.-Intro:...

 and postmodern dance
Postmodern dance
Postmodern dance is a 20th century concert dance form. A reaction to the compositional and presentation constraints of modern dance, postmodern dance hailed the use of everyday movement as valid performance art and advocated novel methods of dance composition....

, and it also draws from other philosophies of movement that are outside the realm of classical dance technique.

The term "contemporary dance" is sometimes used to describe dance that is not classical jazz or traditional folk/cultural dance . The hallmark of contemporary dance is an awareness of the limitations of form . Sub-genres recently defined by dance critics include non-dance, conceptual dance and pedestrian contemporary .

History

Pioneers of contemporary dance (the offspring of modern and postmodern) include Isadora Duncan
Isadora Duncan
Isadora Duncan was a dancer, considered by many to be the creator of modern dance. Born in the United States, she lived in Western Europe and the Soviet Union from the age of 22 until her death at age 50. In the United States she was popular only in New York, and only later in her life...

, Ruth St. Denis
Ruth St. Denis
Ruth St. Denis was an early modern dance pioneer.-Biography:Ruth St. Denis founded Adelphi University's dance program in 1938 which was one of the first dance departments in an American university...

, Doris Humphrey
Doris Humphrey
Doris Batcheller Humphrey was a dancer and choreographer of the early twentieth century. Humphrey was born in Oak Park, Illinois but grew up in Chicago, Illinois. She was the daughter of Horace Buckingham Humphrey and Julia Ellen Wells and was a descendant of pilgrim William Brewster...

, Mary Wigman
Mary Wigman
Mary Wigman was a German dancer, choreographer, and dance instructor.A pioneer of expressionist dance, her work was hailed for bringing the deepest of existential experiences to the stage...

, Francois Delsarte
François Delsarte
François Alexandre Nicolas Chéri Delsarte was a French musician and teacher.Delsarte was born in Solesmes, Nord. He was a pupil of the Paris Conservatory, was for a time tenor singer in the Opéra Comique, and composed a few songs. However, he is chiefly known as a teacher in singing and...

, Émile Jaques-Dalcroze
Émile Jaques-Dalcroze
Émile Jaques-Dalcroze , was a Swiss composer, musician and music educator who developed eurhythmics, a method of learning and experiencing music through movement...

, Merce Cunningham
Merce Cunningham
Mercier "Merce" Philip Cunningham was an American dancer and choreographer who was at the forefront of the American avant-garde for more than 50 years. Throughout much of his life, Cunningham was considered one of the greatest creative forces in American dance...

, Martha Graham
Martha Graham
Martha Graham was an American modern dancer and choreographer whose influence on dance has been compared with the influence Picasso had on modern visual arts, Stravinsky had on music, or Frank Lloyd Wright had on architecture.She danced and choreographed for over seventy years...

, Paul Taylor
Paul Taylor
Paul Taylor is one of the foremost American choreographers of the 20th century.Paul Taylor is the last living member of the pantheon that created America’s indigenous art of modern dance...

, Rudolph von Laban, Loie Fuller
Loie Fuller
Loie Fuller Loie Fuller Loie Fuller (also Loïe Fuller; (January 15, 1862 – January 1, 1928) was a pioneer of both modern dance and theatrical lighting techniques.-Career:...

, Jose Limon
José Limón
José Arcadio Limón was a pioneer in the field of modern dance and choreography. In 1928, at age 20, he moved to New York City where he studied under Doris Humphrey and Charles Weidman. In 1946, Limón founded the José Limón Dance Company...

 and Marie Rambert
Marie Rambert
Dame Marie Rambert DBE was a Polish-Jewish dancer and dance pedagogue who exerted a great influence on British ballet, both as a dancer and teacher.- Early years and background :...

.

Dance technique


Dance techniques and movement philosophies employed in contemporary dance may include:
  • Body-Mind Centering as a movement philosophy but not as a technique
  • Contemporary ballet
    Contemporary ballet
    Contemporary ballet is a form of dance which incorporates elements of both classical ballet and modern dance. It takes its technique and use of pointework from classical ballet, although it permits a greater range of movement that may not adhere to the strict body lines set forth by schools of...

  • Alexander Technique
    Alexander Technique
    The Alexander Technique teaches the ability to improve physical postural habits, particularly those that have become ingrained and conditioned responses...

  • Bartenieff Fundamentals
    Bartenieff Fundamentals
    Bartenieff Fundamentals are an extension of Laban Movement Analysis developed by Irmgard Bartenieff, who trained with Laban before becoming a physiotherapist...

  • Contact Improvisation
    Contact improvisation
    Contact improvisation is a dance technique in which points of physical contact provide the starting point for exploration through movement improvisation...

  • Dance Improvisation
    Dance improvisation
    Dance improvisation is the process of spontaneously creating movement. Development of improvised movement material is facilitated through a variety of creative explorations including body mapping through body mind centering, levels, shape and dynamics , sensory experiences through touch or contact...

  • Feldenkrais method
    Feldenkrais method
    The Feldenkrais Method is a somatic educational system designed by Moshé Feldenkrais . The Feldenkrais method aims to improve movement repertoire, aiming to expand and refine the use of the self through awareness, in order to reduce pain or limitations in movement, and promote general well-being...

     
  • Hawkins
    Erick Hawkins
    Frederick Hawkins known as Erick Hawkins was a leading American modern-dance choreographer and dancer...

     technique
  • Horton
    Lester Horton
    Lester Horton was an American dancer, choreographer, and teacher.-Early years:Lester Iradell Horton was born in Indianapolis, Indiana on January 23, 1906. His parents were Iradell Horton and Pollyanna Horton....

     technique
  • Humphrey-Weidman
    Humphrey-Weidman
    Humphrey-Weidman is a modern dance technique based on the theory and action of fall and recovery. It originated in 1928 when Doris Humphrey and Charles Weidman broke away from the Denishawn school and moved to New York City. There they pioneered modern dance in the United States by founding a dance...

     technique
  • Graham
    Martha Graham
    Martha Graham was an American modern dancer and choreographer whose influence on dance has been compared with the influence Picasso had on modern visual arts, Stravinsky had on music, or Frank Lloyd Wright had on architecture.She danced and choreographed for over seventy years...

     technique
  • Cunningham
    Merce Cunningham
    Mercier "Merce" Philip Cunningham was an American dancer and choreographer who was at the forefront of the American avant-garde for more than 50 years. Throughout much of his life, Cunningham was considered one of the greatest creative forces in American dance...

     technique
  • Corporeal mime
    Corporeal mime
    One subgroup of physical theater is corporeal mime. Its objective is to place drama inside the moving human body, rather than to substitute gesture for speech as in pantomime. In this medium, the mime must apply to physical movement those principles that are at the heart of drama: pause,...

     - Etienne Decroux
    Étienne Decroux
    Étienne Decroux studied at Jacques Copeau's Ecole du Vieux-Colombier, where he saw the beginnings of what was to become his life's obsession–Corporeal Mime...

     technique
  • Pilates
    Pilates
    Pilates is a physical fitness system developed in the early 20th century by Joseph Pilates in Germany, the UK and the USA. As of 2005, there were 11 million people practicing the discipline regularly and 14,000 instructors in the United States....

  • Release Technique
    Release technique
    Release technique is an umbrella term that encompasses a variety of different corporeal practices that emphasize efficiency of movement. Emphasis is placed on breath, skeletal alignment, joint articulation, ease of muscular tension and the use of gravity and momentum to facilitate movement.Release...

  • Yoga
    Yoga
    Yoga is a physical, mental, and spiritual discipline, originating in ancient India. The goal of yoga, or of the person practicing yoga, is the attainment of a state of perfect spiritual insight and tranquility while meditating on Supersoul...

  • Martial Arts
    Martial arts
    Martial arts are extensive systems of codified practices and traditions of combat, practiced for a variety of reasons, including self-defense, competition, physical health and fitness, as well as mental and spiritual development....

  • Sullivan Technique


Contemporary dance employs many modern dance
Modern dance
Modern dance is a dance form developed in the early 20th century. Although the term Modern dance has also been applied to a category of 20th Century ballroom dances, Modern dance as a term usually refers to 20th century concert dance.-Intro:...

techniques such as contact-release, fall and recovery, floor work, improvisation, and lifts in partnering.

External links

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