Modern DanceFranky Hang and Alisa O’Brien

Brief History

• Life is movement

• Spiritual/ritual

• Universal

• Greek/Roman - no women

Brief History

• Entertainment/social

• Royal courts

• Romantic/Ballet

• Russian Ballet

Basics

• 1920s-1930s

• Stressed artistic individualism

• Flourished despite Great Depression

Basics

• America and Germany - no dance companies

• Hard to define

• An attitude

Influences

• Greek dance - Universe -> cosmic dance

• Roman pantomime

• Ballet

Defining Characteristics

Ballet Modern dance

• Angular • Asymmetrical • Unglamorous• Expressive

• Rounded• Symmetrical• Graceful• Structured

Similarities

• Music often composed after choreography

• American

• Choreographer worked alone

• Study with established figures -> break away -> found own companies

Isadora Duncan (1877 – 1927)

• Free spirited/eccentric

• Feminist

• Socialist

Isadora Duncan

• Augustin Daly Company

• Isadora Duncan Dance Company

Isadora Duncan

“Isadorables”

Isadora Duncan

• Scandalous love life

• Financial woes

• Dramatic death

Characteristics

• Italian music

• Renaissance paintings

• Greek myth • The sea

Characteristics

• Simple tunics/robes• Bare feet• Loose hair

• Bare stage

• Improvised speeches

Characteristics

• Variations in basic movements

• Movement comes from solar plexus

Isadora Duncan Dancershttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kq2GgIMM060

Martha Graham (1894 – 1991)

• Danced & choreographed for over 70 years

• First dancer to perform at White House

• Received many awards

Martha Graham

• Presbyterian family

• Denishawn School

• Expressive needs

Characteristics

• Sharp, angular, and direct movements

• Contraction/release

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lr8OqS7glxk

Characteristics

• Truth

• Themes:• - Desires vs. Tradition - History - Mythology - Literature

Merce Cunningham (1919-2009)

• Avant – Garde

• Cornish School

• Worked with Martha Graham

• Mondays with Merce

Characteristics

• Theory of dance and music

• Unstructured

• Chance/indeterminacy

• Stage -> open field

“Chance can reveal to a choreographer ways of combining movements that the rational, conscious mind might not otherwise have thought of on its own.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11Ev9uKlKNM

Public/Critic Reaction

• Uncomfortable

• Eventually gained a wide and enthusiastic audience

• “If my daughter dressed like Miss Duncan, I would lock her up in the attic!”

• Martha Graham: “Ugly dances”

• Recognized as an art by 1950s

• Began to fade over the years

• Influenced African American dance