modern dance
Non-classical staged movement
Modern dance is a style of theatrical dance that emerged in the early twentieth century as a departure from classical ballet.
Where ballet emphasizes formalized positions and ethereal grace, modern dance prioritizes expressive movement, natural body mechanics, and emotional authenticity.
Pioneers like Martha Graham and Isadora Duncan rejected ballet's rigid vocabulary in favor of weighted, grounded movements and personal expression.
She studied modern dance at a conservatory downtown.
Designing performance movement sequences
- performanceCarrying out a task
- Isadora DuncanModern dance pioneer
- contemporaryOf the present age
- interpretiveExplaining meaning or significance
Martha Graham · Alvin Ailey · ensemble · soloist · troupe · repertoire · company · recital
Complex psychological state
- gestureCommunicative body movement
- storytellingRecounting events aloud
- interpretationAssigned meaning
- physicalityBodily, material quality
body language · theatricality · intensity · passion · narrative · drama · sensuality · vulnerability
State of flowing freely
- graceEffortless beauty of motion
- flowUnbroken forward movement
- flexibilityAbility to adapt easily
- agilityQuickness and ease
poise · lyricism · undulation · extension · isolation · floorwork · suspension · weight shift
Systematic testing of ideas
- boundary-pushingExceeding accepted limits
- avant-gardeInnovative cultural pioneers
- pioneeringFirst to explore territory
- originalityNovel creative quality
deconstruction · multimedia · site-specific · interdisciplinary · collaboration · transformation · reinterpretation · conceptual
Rate of musical performance
- syncopationStressed unexpected beats
- cadenceRhythmic pulse or pattern
- pulseArterial blood throb
- timingArt of choosing moments
musicality · polyrhythm · count · phrasing · accent · silence · counterpoint · improvisation
choreography
Designing performance movement sequences
- performanceCarrying out a task
- Isadora DuncanModern dance pioneer
- contemporaryOf the present age
Martha Graham · Alvin Ailey · interpretive · ensemble · soloist · troupe · repertoire · company · recital · premiere
emotion
Complex psychological state
- gestureCommunicative body movement
- storytellingRecounting events aloud
- interpretationAssigned meaning
physicality · body language · theatricality · intensity · passion · narrative · drama · sensuality · vulnerability · abstraction
fluidity
State of flowing freely
- graceEffortless beauty of motion
- flowUnbroken forward movement
- flexibilityAbility to adapt easily
agility · poise · lyricism · undulation · extension · isolation · floorwork · suspension · weight shift · centering
experimentation
Systematic testing of ideas
- boundary-pushingExceeding accepted limits
- avant-gardeInnovative cultural pioneers
- pioneeringFirst to explore territory
originality · deconstruction · multimedia · site-specific · interdisciplinary · collaboration · transformation · reinterpretation · conceptual · nontraditional
tempo
Rate of musical performance
- syncopationStressed unexpected beats
- cadenceRhythmic pulse or pattern
- pulseArterial blood throb
timing · musicality · polyrhythm · count · phrasing · accent · silence · counterpoint · improvisation · footwork
- dance photographystudio shots, action shots, motion blur, leaps, jumps
- Dance topicsballet, waltz, tango, swing
- modern danceMartha Graham, Isadora Duncan, Nijinsky, Alvin Ailey, contraction
- art formspainting, drawing, sculpture, photography, music
- artsartist, creativity, expression, songs, painting
- danceballet, breaking, b-boying, ballroom, waltz
modern danceclassical ballet
Formal European theatrical dance
ballet · court dance · classical dance · romantic ballet · traditional dance
dance, modern, dancer, dancing, dances, danced, modernize, dancers, modernized