Modern Dance Is Never Static Essay

Dance began as a form of communication and storytelling. Thousands of years ago dancing served as a way for people to tell a story and helped distract themselves of the hardships they faced. Furthermore, dance was a form of storytelling through communication, which then turned into using storytelling through dance as entertainment. According to the History World, many dancers during the BC time danced in front of only a few people to get a story across. That later turned into hundreds of thousands of people as dance was used by many. Today, dance is also a form of entertainment and storytelling, but in a modern sense. However, today perfection and technique are stressed more than they were in the past. Yet, the passion for dance has not changed. Many dancers who share this passion also have many of the same qualities. Among a discourse community of trained dancers, one expects to find individuals who are healthy and active athletes, expect perfection from themselves through competition, and religiously attend dance performances.

Many people consider activities such as, football, baseball, volleyball, and track to be a sport. The qualities that tend to make these activities considered sports are, running, tackling, hitting a ball, participating in relays, and so much more. Not mentioned in this list of sports is dance. People tend to believe that dance is nothing more than moving your body to some music, it is also very mentally engaging as well as being a physically demanding activity. The question that many might ask: Why is dance not classified as a sport? Dancers that compete in competitive situations do not get off as easily as people may think. These dancers require countless hours of exercising, training, and stretching, just as much, if not more, than other sports. To perfect the art of dancing comes with years of training and dedication. With this explanation of the art of dancing, it can be concluded that dance is in fact a sport.

Whether we look at a romantic ballet like La Sylphide or a classical ballet such as Sleeping Beauty, audiences are constantly mesmerized by the gracefulness and weightlessness of the ballet dancers. They seem to defy the laws of physics, which is greatly possible due to the use of the pointe shoe. However, many masterworks that were created in the Romantic era did not solely rely on the pointe shoe to help convey messages. Instead, the choreography, dancers, scenic elements, subject matter, and music all helped shaped masterworks such as La Sylphide, Napoli, and Giselle. Similarly, in the Classical era, these elements all played a role in shaping famous ballets like La Bayadere, Sleeping Beauty, and Swan Lake. But once we take a closer look at these ballets from the Classical era, we can see how much ballet evolved. Nevertheless, it is important to note that the Romantic era was the stepping stone for this pure art form that we have been able to preserve for more than 160 years.

Dance is a unique sport because it combines the grit and sweat of sporting events, such as track and field, with the style and extravagance of a fashion show (D.Fowler, 2000).

The 20th century saw a shift in dance as new forms were created and artists began entertaining audiences in new ways. The rise of Jazz music and the swing era allowed a couple of tap dancers, commonly known as the Nicholas Brothers, to gain fame. The Nicholas Brothers questioned what dance could be by pushing the human body to the limits the likes of which had not been seen before. Other innovations in their dance such as their vernacular style, informal training, and unique musicality directly opposed many of the virtues of classical ballet. Through my own interpretations of their work as well as through the use of primary and secondary sources it is clear to see that the Nicholas Brothers opposed classical ballet through their style, musicality,

a) Many ask, “How can dance be a sport? You can't judge on time and the scoring is subjective!” Just like figure skaters, competitive dancers are judged on many criteria: technique, posture, timing, line, hold, poise, togetherness, expression, presentation, power, and foot or leg action. Dancers have a lot on their minds while performing. They are constantly asking themselves, am I extending correctly? Is my technique right? Is my head facing the right direction?

Mrs. Farrell’s book is quite technical when it comes to the lengthy descriptions of the dances she rehearses and performs; from a dancer’s view these varied conclusions of the types of movements she was dancing is quite astonishing. In fact, it adds a whole new level to the imagination that can come alive in a person’s thoughts when they read an expressive book. Although the technical explanations will excited, astound, and reveal how much passion and deep meaning ballet had in Suzanne Farrell’s life, but a reader, who may not be involved in the arts will be unfamiliar with the ballet and musical terms in

Dance is one of the most beautiful, expressive forms of art known to mankind. It expresses joy, love, sorrow, anger, and the list truly goes on for all the possible emotions that it can convey. Dance not only can express how one feels, but it can tell a story or even be used to praise a higher power. Dance has intricately played an important role to every culture over the course of time. Two forms of dance that have not only stood against the test of time but have influenced the development of other various styles of dance is none other than Classical Ballet and Modern Dance.

Dance critic Théophile Gautier states, “Nothing resembles a dream more than a ballet...” (Anderson 77). The effortless technique of the ballerina paints most ballets as exactly this. Consequently, there is more to a ballet than technique and dancing. Different types of ballets and their structural components separate one ballet from the next. It is important to understand the difference between the two main types of ballets: Romantic Ballet and Classical Ballet. Romantic ballet in the 19th century differs from Classical ballet in the 20th century structurally, technically, and socially. The two dance forms also vary in costumes and narrative. However, with all of those differences, they both use ballet technique for a specific purpose.

Dance has changed from hundreds of years of tradition, to something modern, forever changing, modern dance. With television shows such as “Dance Moms”, and “So You Think You Can Dance”, modern dance has embodied a new form, transformed into a different style, representing its new name entirely. Contemporary, developed from modern dance, is something modern, it is forever changing, and it is contemporary.

The history of ballet is rich, complex and full of powerful meanings depending on the time period. Ballet in the 15th century was seen as something that only select individuals could do, whereas, the 20th century ballet can be preformed by anyone. By thinking about how ballet performers have changed, a question may be thought is, have the people attending these ballet performances changed as well as the performers themselves? Today, children from ages two and up start taking ballet and family members come and watch their final recitals. National ballet companies are also an event and often draw attention to the higher-class individuals who have a taste for ballet. The ballet world could be seen as to having a quite array of attendees, events and functions, but that might not have always been the

Just when social dancing was at its height, World War 2 put a stop to its popularity. Lack of attendance, plus the intricate rhythmic patterns of modern jazz music, which were too complex for social dancing, led to the closing of dance halls and ballrooms. With the demise of social dance, the growth of jazz dance as a professional dance form began. During the 1940’s, jazz dance was influenced by ballet and modern dance. By blending the classical technique of ballet with the natural bodily expression of modern dance, jazz developed a sophisticated artistic quality. Unlike early jazz dance, which was performed by talented entertainers without formal training, modern jazz dance was performed by professionals trained in ballet and modern dance.

Dancers do not dance because we want to, but because we have to. Wherever we are, we find a way to dance because it is a part of who we are. We are

Many authorities on dance, consider it a living art form while only there for a fleeting moment, it is always moving and forever changing. Just as a sculptor creates his piece with his own hands and may make another that might look very similar, they are truly different. That is how dance is. The dance piece cannot be performed exactly the same, it may be close, but there will be small instances that may be different from earlier performances. This is especially true of the performers. No two dancers will perform the same piece the same way. These small instances, such as a hand position, the extension of the leg, whether higher or lower than the performance before are what makes each dance work one of a kind. Furthermore, dance as

Contemporary dance was developed in the early 20th century as a movement against the rigid technique of ballet (Blackfish Arts Acadamy, 2006). Using the natural lines of the body to create new movements, the contemporary dance style usually has more fluidity than that of conventional dance styles (Freeman, 2013). In the book ‘Beginning Modern Dance’, Miriam Giguere says ‘The function of dance is communication. . . . By communication is not meant to tell a story or to project an idea, but to communicate experience by means of action . . . out of this came a different use of the body as an instrument, as the violin is an instrument. Body is the basic instrument, intuitive, instinctive. As a result an entirely contemporary set of technics was evolved.’ (Giguere, 2014).