Alvin Ailey (1931-1989), American choreographer and activist became one of the leading figures in the 20th century modern dance. He began dance training at age of eleven. At this age he was learning classical, folk, social, and modern dances. He started studying extensive dance at the age of 19 with Lester Horton in 1949. He joined Lester’s dance company in 1950.
“Where are you now, Gene Kelly?” asked poet Jeremy Bass, “The show’s still going, and we’ve forgotten how to dance” (Bass 76). A Pittsburgher in Hollywood, as he was known, Gene Kelly was an inimitable figure in the history of dance. Known for revolutionizing the world of movie musicals, Gene Kelly’s aura of commonality and ease within his art contributed to the assumption that he would be opposed to the structure of nineteenth century classical ballet. However, due to the nature of his artistic upbringing, his “Excalibur Ideology” and his staged opposition and appreciation of the nineteenth century dance conventions, one can deduce that Kelly, while having respect for classical ballet, believed in the progressing evolution of dance toward
Modern Dance is defined as being a dance style that focuses on a dancer's interpretation as opposed to the structured steps of Ballet. It was developed in the early twentieth century, primarily in Germany and the United States. The dance style was a rebellion against the rigid formalism of Ballet. The pioneers of the dance style were Isadora Duncan, Loie Fuller, and Ruth St. Denis in the United States, Rudolf von Laban and Mary Wigman. Modern dance is known for its nature-like and free flowing movement.
Second, she argues that movement needs more attention "as a primary, not a secondary, social text, one of immense importance and tremendous challenge" (49). She argued that because we tend to only rely on texts, art, sometimes music to learn about a culture. Desmond states that "we should not ignore the ways in which dance signals and enacts social identities in all their continually changing
Today’s modern dance differs from what it was when Graham did it. There are many differences from Martha’s style of dance and today’s style of dance. Already, Martha Graham had a unique style of dance that many people thought was “ugly.” It took quite some time for others to truly appreciate the way of Graham’s dance.
Martha Graham was a world famous modern dancer and choreographer from the twentieth century. Graham was special to any other dancer in her time, she created her very own unique difficult technique style which changed the dance community's perspective on modern dance. Graham choreographed her works through themes and ideas that were quite personal and related to issues in her time. The technique style Graham created was a whole new language in dance. She developed the motion of ‘contraction and release’ which was based on the concept of breathing.
America underwent constant reform between the years of 1840 to 1850. Living in a country established for less than a century, Americans witnessed great wars, new inventions, expansion, and changes within the government. Art wasn 't as prevalent then as it became later on. The pioneers of dance and historic events regarding such happened later. However, it is the history of the people that have influence upon masterpieces born in generations to come.
Among the many important dance artist of the 20th and 21st century, Anna Halprin is often considered one of the most significant pioneers of post-modern dance. As a self-proclaimed “breaker of modern dance,” Halprin developed many techniques that are relevant and widely used in 21st century dance. In particular, Halprin, along with other dancers, founded the San Francisco Dancers Workshop in 1959, which was one of the early steps in the move away from modern dance. In doing so, Halprin and other notable dancers such as Trisha Brown, Yvonne Rainer, Simone Forti, John Cage and Robert Morris sought to challenge the technical rigidity of modern dance and shift the focus on a pure and abstract manner of dancing that was based on movement. This was an incredibly significant step that greatly
Ballet is almost always thought of as a very traditional movement. As the oldest form of choreographed dance, it is no surprise many people view ballet culture sometimes as “antique.” It is, however, simply untrue. Many ballet companies are beginning to change what ballet is “supposed” to look like. For example, choreographers such as Mats Ek, William Forsythe and Jiří Kylián, shown in 6000 Miles, along with Alfonzo King’s Migration, are changing the idea of ballet.
There are many changes ballet and opera throughout all of music history. There are also many different composers that have performed both opera and ballets. I’m going to be talking about how ballet has changed throughout music history. Ballet originally originated in Italy in the fifteen hundreds, but then worked its way to France. The word ballet sounds like a French word, but it is not French
Liturgical Dance Minister began in the fourth century during the era of Augustine. “Christian dance activism began in the fourth century, when the Church grew increasingly ambivalent about bodily expression. This attitude dominated Christianity for centuries and led to repeated prohibitions, yet dancing persisted in churches across Europe for devotional, communal, healing, and catechetical purposes” (Telesco, p.447). There are many different dancers that are known in the world of Liturgical Dance Ministry, one being Margaret Taylor Doane (1908–2004), was one of the most influential figures in the Liturgical Dance Ministry. Margaret experimented with “movement choirs,” dance groups
The Argentine Tango and Traditional American Square Dance would appear to be two diametrically opposed forms of dance. However, while there are definitive differences, there are also similarities. The world of dance is valued and vast. It is improbable to name all the forms of dance which exist in today’s world. Every country, every culture, every ethnicity has some form of representative dance.
By the 1920’s music and dancing intermingled to create a dancing frenzy in the United States (Fletcher Henderson 99). The dance craze started due to a shift in Jazz music to Big Bands. Swing was the main way these new type of bands were described due to the fact that these bands played like no other bands before, and gained the ability to make the music move unlike jazz had in the past. In the article “Fletcher Henderson” it explains “someone once described swing as the quality which not only makes people want to dance but would also cause them to fall over in a heap if the music stopped unexpectedly” (112). This was very apparent in the performance by the Big Band last week, unlike the other performance the band was able to get the audience
The new dance is used to describe the developing art form, it was articulated in the early 20th century. “The new dance emerged as a response to the ballet that populated the variety shows and music halls, which had a rigid formula of steps and poses” (Kassing). The new dance was a product of several strands; these strands and others, woven together in a historical, political, and societal framework, leading to the development of a new dance form that interlaced together through dancers’ studies and background. For instance, one strand consisted of the concepts, techniques, costumes, and stage settings from around the world. Whereas another strand came from actress and teacher Genevieve Stebbens, who taught the Delsarte method, Delsarte’s method used poses and gestures to display emotions.
Before this epoch, the indigenous people and the slaves brought to the Americas in the 17th century, danced to their own music, but very little is known about it. After the American Civil War people from the Caribbean and the south of the United States began to move to the big cities in the North. In New York many settled in the Harlem District. They brought with them their own music and cultural traditions. Dances as Charleston and Lindyhop became very popular among blacks as well as whites and the influence of what is called this ‘Harlem Renaissance’ spread even into Europe.
