A New Form Of Modern Dance In The 1920's

Modern dance is a form of a dance that employs a special technique for the developing the

use of the entire body in movements expression of abstract ideas. Modern dance is a dance that has. a particular style and form. It was primarily originated in Germany and in the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Modern dance does not have strict rules as classical ballet but instead it is focus on expressing the inner feelings. Modern dance came to America in the 20th century. A number of choreographers and dancers rebelled against two forms of dances at that time, which was ballet and vaudeville.

    They wanted to be recognize as artists rather than simply entertainers. The pioneers of modern dance in America were Lois Fuller, Isadora Duncan. Ruth St Denis and Ted Shawn. The first generation of modern dance swept America during the 1920's. A new form of theatrical dancing. The ground work had been laid developing the art as it is known today. It was introduced by Martha Graham, Mary Wigman, Hanga Holon, Doris Humphrey and others The second generation of modern dance included such artist as Erick Hawkins, Merce Cunningham, Paul Taylor, Jose Liman, Katherune Dunhana, Pearl Primers, Alvin Ailey, Anna Halprin, Yvonne Rainer and Toyla Tharp.

Modern dance today is more sophisticated both in techniques and technology.

There is a softer dividing line between modern dance and ballet. Modern dance today has become a fusion of multiple dance styles and forms as demonstrated by choreographers , Mark Morris, Ohad Naharin and Shen Wei. There are many dance terminology, to name a few with their meanings are as follows: Attotude - a position in which weight is supported on one leg with the other leg lifted either in front or behind with knee bent and turned out. Jump - a rising into the air landing on both feet at the same time . Tempo - speed  how fast or slow and Choreography - a dance

composition.
    In a modern dance performance, the dancer is often barefoot, or wearing soft shoes. He or she moves in a free, almost improvisational style, and it is common to see controlled falls and other interesting interplays of body weight and gravity. Unlike ballet, which reaches for the stars with leaps and high kicks, this style of dance often lingers near the ground, especially in a piece heavily influenced by psychology and intense emotional states. Also many dance forms began to intermingle, rather than remaining strictly separate. It is not uncommon for a modern dancer to have classical training, and dance sometimes appears in staged productions and films, when the artistic vision behind the piece calls for it.
    The flowing movements and dramatic appearance of modern dance also sometimes cross over to the ballet stage, bringing a note of seriousness to ballet performance.
some technique's that was used number of times throughout the book that I found interesting was abdominals- muscles found on the belly of the body. The abdominals include the rectus abdominus, the obliques, and the transversalis. Adbuction- movement away from the midline on lateral plane. Adduction- movement toward the midline on the lateral plane.
     Also I found The term body half is associated with Bartenieff Fundamentals and developmental movement patterns.The movement of the right or left half of the body, while the other half is stationary or playing a supportive role.Triplets and slides was something I also found interesting because we have done a lot of this in class. Triplet is three steps usually done in a down, up and up sequence; and slides is an undercurve movement that combines a slide an elevation and a landing on the other leg in ballet this is called a chasse.
   The book basic concepts in Modern Dance it give me a great understanding of what modern dance is all about . To sum it up, its a modern dance performance, the dancer is often barefoot, or wearing soft shoes. He or she moves in a free, almost improvisational style, and it is common to see controlled falls and other interesting interplays of body weight and gravity. Unlike ballet, which reaches for the stars with leaps and high kicks, this style of dance often lingers near the ground, especially in a piece heavily influenced by psychology and intense emotional states. I feel reading this book it give me a better understanding of what modern dance really is and where it come from.