Modern Dance Pioneers
How have modern dance pioneers contributed to the development of modern dance as an art form?
Modern dance has developed into art form as a result of the new techniques and theories that modern dance pioneers incorporated into their dance practices. Dancers like Isadora Duncan, Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn, Martha Graham, Doris Humphrey, Lester Horton and Merce Cunningham have shaped modern dance by expanding the vocabulary of movement, development of facial expressions to covey emotion and designing costumes that allow for greater expression. Also, by challenging the traditional ideas regarding body size, gender and nationality modern dance pioneers enabled a broader range of artistic expression to be incorporated into dance. One modern dance pioneer, Isadora Duncan, contributed to the development of modern dance costumes by creating costumes that highlighted the free and flowing movements expressed in her dances. This is evident in this video clip of Isadora Duncan, Isadora Duncan Video Link. The costumes worn in Duncan’s dances are long, flowing tunics that revealed the body’s movements and feministic shape. The costumes worn by her dancers influenced the design of costumes and clothing I wear, for example, two years ago in my dance, Hallelujah, I wore a dress that was long and flowed from my waist down. The costume was chosen to give the body a natural freeing look and feeling. This was only possible because of the influence Isadora Duncan had on modern costume design. As a dancer Duncan was happy and joyful in her dances, as shown in this photo in the top left hand corner. This is different from more traditional styles of dance like ballet, where the facial expressions and emotions are performed very strong, strict and with very little emotional change. Duncan’s use of joyous facial expressions and body language has enabled modern dancers to express a wider range of emotions in their dances. In my contemporary dance, this year, we perform a dance about giving ourselves up to death. One of the major ways we are able to make the audience feel specific emotions, like happiness, joy, sadness, relief and desolation is by showing emotion through our facial features and body language. We want to show the audience what it feels like to be held down by life and then being free and happy because they no longer have the pain they had on Earth. Another dancer pioneer was Martha Graham. She has helped create an art form out of dance. by expanding the vocabulary of movement for dance. In this dance Graham created new movements and ideas completely different from the original characteristics in classical ballet. Martha GrahamDance Video. The techniques she created were just as complex and formal as ballet. My contemporary dance at has similar movement techniques. In the dance, we flex our feet which Graham does constantly in multiple dances. We use lots of vibratory techniques in our movements and we use a lot of collapsing and percussive affects which you wouldn't find in classical ballet dancing. Martha Graham has also impacted the body shape perception that was traditionally associated with dancers. Graham was short and had an athletic build. Her arms had large muscles, a strong and sturdy upper body frame and her gluteus and quadriceps were strong and toned. This body shape was against all the principle rules for how a female dancer had to look. Graham’s athletic build has encouraged me, as it has made different body types more acceptable in the dance industry. I related to this because I have a strong athletic body and very a big bust. Ted Shawn’s masculine dance technique encouraged other males to dance. In my contemporary dance at my dance studio the male dancer’s gender specific role plays a significant part in the story telling. In the dance the male dancer is the lord of the Under World while we are all surrendering our life to him. Denishawn introduced many ethnic cultures into their dances. The first dance the company performed was an Egyptian dance highlighting various cultural dance techniques. My current jazz dance is based on celebrating different cultures through dance. Through this dance i have been able to appreciate various dance techniques used in other cultural dances. Horton, a modern dance pioneer, renown for creating a technique that involved a movement and its contrast. One of his major influences was the native American arts. In this video it shows the dancers’ movement and their contrast. The technique can be used in multiple areas; arial work, centre work and balance work. Performing a movement and its contrast is a common trait that my dance studio incorporates into all dances. In my hip hop dance we perform an open shape after we perform a closed shape. Lester Horton technique video. Horton was also not interested in telling stories but dancing about a specific thing, like a feeling, emotion, object or description both of these point were completely different from the classical ballet dancing. Modern dance pioneer Merce Cunningham, left his dance to chance. He decided what to do by rolling dice. in this article he explains Merce Cunningham - Chance Technique Link. The link is a great source to show us how his technique works. You role a dice multiple times and after each role it will tell you what to do. Chance is used multiple times throughout Origami. It was relying on all the girls in the dance to create their solos and group work so it would all fit together. If Cunningham did not use this technique, all dances would be fully thought out before teaching them so there would be no comparison between movements, trial and error or no refining the dance. Merce Cunningham though it was important for the dancer to keep their thoughts and feelings and use it when they were dancing. I do this when I relate to my dance studios contemporary dance. At the start of the dance I feel helpless, held down and held back ‘The Arc of Two Deaths’ was a name given by Doris Humphrey, a modern dance pioneer, as a motionless balance followed by an unbalanced fall. She realised that when you fall out of balance you need to adjust your centre of gravity in order to not fall over or completely loose balance. When I jump I make sure my centre of gravity is in the middle of my body when I am in the middle of the balance or at the end of my jump. In the photo the woman is balanced because her centre of gravity is is in the middle of her body. the woman probably does the balance without realising where her weight placement is supposed to be. Doris Humphrey discovered what we do mentally without realising. Without dance pioneers, like Isadora Duncan, Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn, Martha Graham, Doris Humphrey, Lester Horton and Merce Cunningham dance would not have evolved into the modern dance forms we see today. |
Isadora DuncanMartha GrahamTed Shawn + Male DancersDenishawn Dancers |