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DANC 250
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For centuries, ballet had been the main artistic form for dancers. By the turn of the
century, dancers were itching for a new, expressive and inclusive form of dance. Modern a free,
expressive style of dance that arose in the late 19th and early 20th centuries out of Germany and
the United States as a response and rejection of classical ballet and industrialization. For many,
this marked the start of a dance revolution. No longer were dancers confined to tutus, corsets,
pointe shoes, showy technique and story lines of classical ballet. As the ballet loving Victorian
social structure declined with the industrialization of the lower and middle classes, the dance
world shifted to forms that allowed the dance to escape the confinements of life and return to a
more natural state of being. The work started by Loie Fuller, Isadora Duncan, Ruth St. Dennis,
and Ted Shawn created an early modern form, free dance that while tremendously different from
the world of classical ballet, did not have distinct modern techniques. Instead they used music
and rhythmic body movement to allow for a free expression. This paved the way for the first
generation of truly modern dancers including Martha Graham, Doris Humphrey and Charles
Weidman who created the modern techniques that shaped the modern dance form as we know it
today.
One of the first American pioneers of free dance was Loie Fuller (1862-1928). Of the
free dance pioneers, Fuller is the most controversial due fame being drawn from her creations in
lighting rather than her dance. Fuller was not a trained dancer and instead used theatrical
lighting techniques to devise a type of dance that focused on the shifting play of lights and colors
on voluminous skirts which were kept in constant movement using her arms. Her movements
were open and free. Fuller found inspiration in nature and the billowing folds of silk as seen in
Fire Dance (1895) and Serpentine dance (1889). While she gained popularity in American, Fuller
felt that the public didnt respect her as an artist and still just saw her as an actor. After a
European tour, Fuller decided to continue her work in France where she felt that she was more
valued as an artist. Her inventions in lighting include extensive use of multi-colored theatrical
lighting through electrical lighting, colored gels, slide projections and other aspects of stage
technology. Her most effective theatrical creation was under lighting in which she stood a on a
platform with a glass top and shone light up the platform. She also started the traditions of
turning off house lights before and after each performance. In addition to the creation of new
lighting techquies and designs, Fuller also concert music as integral part of her dance and
inspiration for visual ideas. She also fostered the birth of Modern dance by supporting Isadora
Duncan, one of the single biggest contributors to the early modern form, by sponsoring her
Isadora Duncan (1877-1927) stands as one of the easiest defined pioneer of the free dance
movement and is widely regarded as the mother of Modern dance. She was nave, idealistic,
undisciplined, a symbol of female longing and strong advocate of sexual freedom and personal
fulfilment. For Duncan, movement was centered in the solar plexus and her inspiration was
drawn from nature, simplicity, positive human attributes and Greek art. Her subjects included
universal emotions, responses and aspirations. Much of her dancing predicated her belief in
positive human attributes such as beauty and harmony, courage and endurance. Duncan was
widely opposed to the artificial ballet steps, and instead moved towards what she perceived as
natural movement that included skipping, running, jumping and leaping. She also rejected the
classical ballet uniforms for tutus, corsets and pointe shoes preferring to perform in bare feet,
Greek-styled tunics and loose hair. Duncan called for the dance education of children and started
her first school in Germany that provided her students free up keep and dance classes. Duncan
was not widely popular in America because of her uninhibited moral conduct, her flimsy, see-
thru dress and her open admiration of the new Soviet Union. In America, the name Isadora
Duncan was synomonous with sexual scandal. Duncan also elevated the perception of dance by
using great music (Beethoven, Brahms, Bach, Chopin), feat that classical ballet was not able to
accomplish. Later in her career her inspiration was drawn from social justice. Marseillaise
(1915) and Marche Slave (1916) her two of her well known political dances. Her work was
carried on by her six oldest pupils, known as the Isadorables, who established schools and
While Isadora Duncan promoted the creation of modern dance through the creation of
free movement, Ruth St. Denis (1879-1968) devoted herself to the union of dance and religion.
She expanded the definition of dance by showing Exotic oriental dances such as Indian and
Egyptian that dazzled the audience. Her debut concert (1906) which included her famous pieces:
incense, the Cobra and Radha introduced the public to the idea of ethic dances as a form of art.
She was inspired by religion, musical structure, and Indian and Egyptian culture. St. Denis also
invented musical visualization which reflected the structure of the musical compositions without
recourse to narrative or the interpretation. She strongly believed that dance could become a form
of religious expression and an integral part of human life. Also participated in commercial
theater. Her partner and husband, Ted Shawn helped her expand her subject matter to include
different locations and time periods. Shawn also shared her belied that dance could become a
form of religious expression and an integral part of human life. He also started an all male dance
company whos movements could be characterized as warlike and primitive. Shawns company
was based on the same Massacults farm when Mary Washington Ball a dance teacher organized
the Jacobs Pillow dance festival there which became center for artistic mingling, discovery and
performance. Shawn and St. Denis later founded a dance school in Los Angeles in 1915 called
Denishawn which provided dance students with a well rounded education, giving classes it
ballet, free flowing movement, ethic and folk dances, Dalcroze eurhythmics, Delsarte exercises,
dance history and philosophy. This school as known as a kind of utopia devoted to cultivating
harmony between body, mind and spirit in dancers. Ended in 1930 but provided an education for
the next generation of American dancers including Graham, Humphrey and Weidman.
While Americans started to develop modern by discovering free dance and incorporating ethic
movements, German dancers added to the development by creating Ausdrucktanz, also known as
expressive dancing. Ausdrucktanz was first created Rudolf Laban (1879-1958). Many of
Labans innovations were sparked by his interest in physical culture. His efforts enlarged the
sphere of dance, increasing its importance in recreation, education and therapy. Best known
today for his works as a teacher, theorist, and inventor of his own dance notation, Labanotation.
His analysis of movement qualities and their motivations was known as eukinetics. He was
active in Germany before fleeing the Nazi party. His student, Mary Wigman (1886-1973), She
studied a system of musical and movement training called eurhythmics. She was known for
portraying a sense of evil and animality that emanated from the grasping, claw like gestures and
the earthbound heaviness of the dancers body, themes clearly shown in her most famous piece,
Witch dance (DATE). Wigman also wrote a book called The Language of Dance (1963). She
was known for confrontation of many subjects that people found hard to face: the dark side of
human nature, the ravages of war, aging and the irrevocability of death. She also worked with
lyricism and the formal aspects of dancing. Founded a school in 1920 in Desden. Her legacy
was carried on by her student, Hanya Holm who emphasized space, used improvisation, well
fusion of dramatic and choreographic style. She is most known for establishing Wigman school
Another of Labans students, Kurt Joose (1901-1979), was another notable proponent of
believed that choreography and musical composition should evolve together to give expression
of the dramatic idea in unified style and form. His choreography blended academic ballet
technique with freer and more expressive movement. Forced to leave Germany after
choreographing The Green Table (1932) a piece that politically criticized the government.