Transcript Modern Dance Vocabulary

Modern Dance
Brief History of Modern Dance
• Traditionally, European and American theatrical dance centered on ballet. However,
in the early twentieth century, it became fashionable in dance circles to rebel against
the strictures of tradition.
• The first two well-known American dancers to break away from classical ballet were
Isadora Duncan and Ruth St. Denis. Although their styles differed, Duncan and St.
Denis's unconventional approaches opened the door to a new era in dance history:
the American modern dance movement of the 1920s.
• Leaders of this movement based their works on personal experience, using their
bodies as instruments to express such emotions as passion, fear, joy, or grief. Rather
than adhering to a set form and a limited range of gestures, as in ballet, the dancer
created form as an outgrowth of his or her own communicative impulses.
Brief History of Modern Dance Cont.
• There were two developments that helped inspire a freer kind of dance movement:
- The system of natural expressive gestures – developed by French Actor Francois
Delsarte.
- Eurhythmics – a system for teaching musical rhythms through body movement –
created by Swiss music educator, Emile Jacques-Dalcroze.
• Early modern dancers looked beyond the dominant tradition of Western theatrical
dance (ballet) in order to give their dance a more communicative power. They drew
on archaic or exotic sources for inspiration. During the same period, some ballet
choreographers also looked to similar sources.
History of Modern Dance cont.
• Modern dance is a broad genre of western concert or theatrical dance (as
opposed to participation dance), primarily arising out of both Germany and
the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
• The oversimplification of modern dance's history often leads to the
erroneous explanation that the art form emerged merely as a rejection of, or
rebellion against classical ballet. An in-depth analysis of the context of the
emergence of modern dance reveals that as early as the 1880s, a range of
socioeconomic changes in both the United States and Europe was initiating
to tremendous shifts in the dance world.
History of Modern Dance Cont.
• In America, increasing industrialization, the rise of a middle class (which had more
disposable income and free time), and the decline of Victorian social strictures led
to, among other changes, a new interest in health and physical fitness. "It was in this
atmosphere that a 'new dance' was emerging as much from a rejection of social
structures as from a dissatisfaction with ballet."[2] During that same period, "the
champions of physical education helped to prepare the way for modern dance, and
gymnastic exercises served as technical starting points for young women who
longed to dance"[3]—and women's colleges were already offering "aesthetic dance"
courses by the end of the 1880s[4]
History of Modern Dance cont.
• Concurrently, dance artists such as Isadora Duncan, Maud Allen, and Loie
Fuller were pioneering new forms and practices in what is now called
aesthetic or free dance for performance. These dancers disregarded ballet's
strict movement vocabulary, the particular, limited set of movements that
were considered proper to ballet, and stopped wearing corsets and pointe
shoes in the search for greater freedom of movement. Emil Rath, who wrote
at length about this emerging artform at the time stated,
• "Music and rhythmic bodily movement are twin sisters of art, as they have
come into existence simultaneously...today we see in the artistic work of
Isadora Duncan, Maud Allen, and others the use of a form of dancing which
strives to portray in movements what the music master expresses in his
compositions—interpretative dancing."[5]
History of Modern Dance (cont.)
• In Europe, at this time, an artistic movement was taking place.
• Expressionism was a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting,
originating in Germany at the beginning of the 20th century.
• Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective,
distorting it radically for emotional effect in order to evoke moods or ideas.
• Expressionist artists sought to express the meaning of emotional experience
rather than physical reality
History of Modern Dance (cont.)
• The term Expressionism did not firmly establish itself until 1913
• The term refers to an "artistic style in which the artist seeks to depict not
objective reality but rather the subjective emotions and responses that objects
and events arouse within a person.“
• It is arguable that all artists are expressive but there are many examples of
art production in Europe from the 15th century onward which emphasize
extreme emotion. Such art often occurs during times of social upheaval.
History of Modern Dance (cont.)
• Expressionist dance (translated as "expressive dance") is a European dance
form that is part of the German Expressionist movement.
• Although the Expressionist dance has had origins in the modern dance
pioneered by Rudolf von Laban, his student Mary Wigman is considered
the pioneer of Expressionist dance proper.
• Hanya Holm was a German Expressionist dancer who was a student of
Mary Wigman. She brought these ideas to the United States.
Modern Dance Vocabulary
• Dynamics
• The use of weight, space, flow (energy) and time to
create different energetic statements.
Modern Dance Vocabulary
• Qualities of Movement:
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Swing—pendular, movement centered around a fixed point.
Sustain—continuous, never breaking, even flow, often slow motion
Suspend—momentary weightlessness
Staccato—rhythmic, percussive, quick, sharp
Vibrate—isolated, energy remains contained
Collapse—to fall or cave in
Explode—a burst from a center point
Modern Dance Vocabulary
• Locomotor Movement:
• Movement that moves in space from one point to
another
Modern Dance Vocabulary
• Axial Movement:
• Movement that stays in one location and moves
around the axis of the body
Modern Dance Vocabulary
• Motif
• A central movement theme or idea
Modern Dance Vocabulary
• Contract And Release
• The basic movement idea of Martha Graham’s
technique derived from the use of breath within the
body.
Modern Dance Vocabulary
• Fall and Recovery
• The basic movement idea of Doris Humphrey’s (and
later, Jose Limon’s) technique based on circular motion
and gravity.
Modern Dance Vocabulary
• Triplet
• Three steps usually done in a down, up, up pattern
Modern Dance Vocabulary
• Prance
• The toe-ball-heel transfer of weight from one leg to
the other. Can be done with straight or bent knees.
Modern Dance Vocabulary
• Spiral
• The rotation of the spinal column along its vertical
axis.
Modern Dance Vocabulary
• Pulse
• A beat at regular intervals
Modern Dance Vocabulary
• Weight Shifts
• The transfers of body weight from one leg to the
other.
Modern Dance Vocabulary (Intermediate)
• Abstract Movement
• Movement for movement’s sake, non-literal, often
non-realistic
Modern Dance Vocabulary (Intermediate)
• Some basic Anatomy: The Spine
• Cervical Spine—the vertebrae of the neck
• Thoracic Spine—the chest area of the spine
• Lumbar Spine—the lower back area of the spine
• Sacral Spine—the tailbone region of the spine
Modern Dance Vocabulary (Intermediate)
• Basic Anatomy Cont.
• Pelvis—complex bony structure made up of the sacrum and the
right and left hip bones.
• Sitz Bones (ischial tuberosity)---the bones that make contact with
the floor while sitting.
Modern Dance Vocabulary (Intermediate)
• Phrasing
• The use of dynamics to break up a sequence of
movement in time.
• Initiation
• The body part or location from where movement
begins.
Modern Dance Vocabulary (Advanced)
• Musicality
• The ability of a dancer to move in response to the music.
• Independent of the music, the ability of a dancer to move
with appropriate dynamics.
Modern Dance Vocabulary (Advanced)
• Overcurve
• Lifting the body or part of the body up at the top of the curve
through space.
• Undercurve
• Dropping the weight of the body or part of the body lower in
the center of the curve.