History of Modern Dance

The history of Modern dance is a captivating journey toward one of today’s most popular styles of art.

A relatively young dance form, Modern dance was developed in the 20th century by American and German choreographers. Resembling modern art and music, Modern dance is considered today to still be experimental in many arenas. However, its popularity has grown thanks to the pioneers of this intricate and original dance technique set.

At the turn of the century, Isadora Duncan, Ruth St. Denis, and Loie Fuller began to hone the craft in the states, while Rudolf von Laban and Mary Wigman followed suit in Germany. Both of these groups were fed up with the strict structure and lack of creativity found within their respective classical ballet academies, and desired to inspire audiences and fellow dancers in a whole new way. The result is today’s modern dance – a series of free flowing movements, unconventional dance steps, and out of this world leaps, spins and body contortions.

Isadora Duncan alternated negatively shocking and positively uplifting audiences during these early years of Modern dance, drawing inspiration from Greek figurines she had often studied. She declared her dances to be a free expression of her soul, - something she had been unable to experience through the ballet world. She often selected classical composers such as Beethoven, causing unrest throughout the classical dance world as she paired her jolting, unheard of movements with pieces of music often associated with the traditional dance. Always the queen of improvisation, no one has been able to exactly replicate Duncan’s style, however she did establish schools and inspire countless Modern dance artists who have gone on to create even more cutting edge dances from her inspirational gestures.

Loie Fuller, while just as free thinking as Duncan, found her choreography based in nature. Simulating flowers, butterflies, flames, or any other element found in nature, Fuller inspired the Modern dance world by often adding unique lighting and costuming that was not otherwise seen in a traditional dance production. This technique remained uniquely hers until the 1960s when choreographers from all backgrounds began to utilize it in their performances.

Lastly, Ruth St. Denis took a whole other approach altogether, turning to ancient Asian religion for her inspiration. She loved elaborate costuming, and often improvised creative movement derived from the cultures of Egypt and India to lead the audience into her mystical mind. She also incorporated Native American dances and inspired the second generation of Modern dancers with her creativity, including the now famed Martha Graham.

Although Modern dance is usually credited as an American development, German choreographers, as mentioned above, were hard at work refining their own version of the dance. There is not nearly as extensive documentation regarding the choreography of Germany’s modern greats such as Rudolf von Laban. However, we know that he did found one of the first Modern dance schools, based in Munich and the first school to produce a Modern dance prodigy named Mary Wigman.

When von Laban was exiled during the war, he founded a second school in England, where he worked until his death. Mary Wigman went on to found her own Modern dance academy in Germany and soon became known as the most influential Modern dancer in Europe.

While it took many years, the ballet world did eventually acknowledge Modern dance through the stylings of an impactful choreographer named George Balanchine. The founder of the New York City Ballet and grandfather of the now famed holiday production of The Nutcracker, Balanchine was the first classical choreographer to enlist modern dancers into his company. Paul Taylor is one noted example of an artist to work with Balanchine, and he also recruited Martha Graham. Together, the fusion of classical dance with modern expression created a winning combination that continues to captivate artists all over the world today.

• Photos of Ballet Dancers
• Dance Studio Equipment
• Pictures of Limbo Dancing

• Dance Steps to Thriller
• Popular Line Dances
• Famous Choreographers
• Country Line Dance Steps
• Famous Ballet Dancers

• Origins of Contemporary Dance
• Famous Choreographers
• History of Country Dance
• Swing Dance History
• Irish Dance History