The History and Evoluition of Dance

The world of contemporary dance is one that is constantly developing and pushing the boundaries of what makes dance more than just movement. However, it is questionable that it would be in this diverse state if it was not for a few revolutionary choreographers. Along with Martha Grahame is could be argued that Merce Cunningham was a pioneering, revolutionary choreographer who questioned given standards and procedures creating the diverse contemporary style that we know today. Revolutionary can be defined as something radically new or innovative; outside or beyond established procedure and principles (Dictionary.com, 2017). In order for something to be revolutionary it has to be in relation to something else, this is certainly true for Cunningham’s

- “If I was the question, would you be my answer, if I was the music, would you be the dancer.”-I was singing, gosh this song is annoying I thought -” Oh My God this song is stuck in my head! hmmm what about… I know my ring was gonna get laid about a week ago…...no, I’m not feeling Pitbull, what about hmmmm……. they say we are what we are, but we don’t have to be!”-yeah, some Fall out Boy sounds great right now I told myself quietly.

Some better known than others and some have brought an entire new idea to contemporary. These people include Martha Graham, Isadora Duncan and Merce Cunningham to name a few. Even though Isadora Duncan was one of the first contributors she was considered erotic and excluded from society because of her idea of dancing, it was not until Martha Graham came onto the scene in the middle 1900’s that contemporary was considered a new dance style. She was the first person to saw that dance should be an expression of the dancer’s emotions. While Merce Cunningham danced at the Martha Graham Company and then he changed the genre slightly to create his own style, Cunningham

At the end of the 19th century, ballet was the most prominent form of dance. However, to Isadora Duncan, "ballet was the old order that needed to be overthrown, an embodied symbol of all that was wrong with oversymbolized 19th century living" (Daly 26). Duncan believed that the over-technical, over-standardization of ballet was not what dance should be about. Her vision of dance was one of emotions, ideas, social betterment, and the complete involvement of the body, mind, and soul (26). With these ideas in mind, she began to create a new form of dance; what she referred to as the "new dance" (23), and what is now known as modern dance. In creating this new dance, she was inspired by composers such as

America grew up with dance, from the streets to the theatres in Broadway it has formed many different dance such as modern dance. Modern dance was born in the United States in the 20th century. Its recognitions prevailed when several dancers rebelled to two dances that were extensive at the moment, ballet and vaudeville. Its fundamental aim was to reveal about people. “Modern” referred to a new era of dance and much modernize dance techniques that aimed to recoup natural movement. Having outlined its difference between ballet, they always developed new themes incorporating, personal problems, plays, and poems. They wanted to be taken as a serious dancer rather than entertainers. Isadora Duncan and Ruth St. Denis are considered the pillars of modern dance. In addition, an African American name Alvin Ailey was rapidly becoming a leading in 20th-century modern dance. known as an influential dancer in modern dance. Alvin revolutionizes modern dance by, modernizing modern dance, revolutionizing African-American participation in the 20th Century and promoted modern dance around the world.

I decided to research one of the most influential Modern Dance pioneers; Martha Graham. Graham’s contributions to dance has often been compared to Picasso’s contributions to art and Stravinsky’s to music; in my opinion she opened up many new opportunities and possibilities for dance including the ability to learn free expression and honesty through movement.

Since I was a little girl I’ve always been part of something. But none of the activities I did really filled me. I became part of a dance academy when I was 13 years old, and it was because my sister wanted to learn to dance for her Quinceañera. It’s kind of ironic how something that would be very important to me started so simple. But I guess that’s just how the best things in life happens.

It is difficult to define what it means to be an American considering the constant reformation of American society due to the wide range of values amongst each other. Many artists, choreographers and musicians contributed to the evolution and dance and musical theater in America. American modern dance was created to produce unique expression to the society of America during the 19th century. A famous figure comes to mind when thinking of the evolution of American dance. Martha Graham was known as the "Mother of Modern Dance" because of her affiliations with the choreography of dance. It is said that she created a dance with a "new level of popularity…she created a new language of movement that expressed powerful emotions"(Ember). Many artists'

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.

Over the past five centuries, dance has undergone tremendous change and evolved in to various different forms. Throughout the history of dance, styles including ballet or modern have changed in both technique and expression, and their popularity has constantly fluctuated. From the 16th century until present day, ballet specifically has fallen in and out of favor and gone through multiple periods of artistic scarcity to prosperity. One peak of its popularity was during the Romantic era when creativity and innovation were thriving among choreographers and dancers. Modern dance, which emerged from ballet as a way of rejecting classical aesthetics, also experienced times of dormancy and activeness since its origin at the turn of the 20th

Dance has always been a part of my life, and it was always fun to look back at old pictures and reminisce about all of the dance issues I had when I was younger. But as I got older and better, the growing stopped. I wasn’t learning as much new stuff, just perfecting old choreography. Ballet has never been my favorite dance style, my studio is more invested in lyrical and performance styles, like tap, jazz, and musical theatre. I originally only wanted to take ballet here because I wanted to be in the Nutcracker because it was something my studio doesn’t do. But this class brought me back to ballet basics, and I have seen major growth in my ballet technique, enough for my mom to notice. I’ve gotten a lot stronger at certain ballet barre warm

If one has ever been fortunate enough to see a live ballet then I’m sure at some point during the performance they found themselves wondering how much time, effort, and skill the dancers devote prior to the performance. While there are many factors contributing to the outcome of the show, as long as the dancer learns the choreography and has a great dress rehearsal, the audience is guaranteed to love the show!

Dance has been a natural movement form since the beginning of time. The origin of dance is unknown, just as the knowledge of the benefits of dance are unknown to many in our society. Many people do not enjoy dancing and also do not fully understand the positive benefits that come from dancing. Researchers such as Edwards, Duberg, and many more have found countless mental and emotional benefits of dance that originate from movement patterns, brain connections, and even expressions of emotion. Many are aware of the physical benefits of dance, but beyond the physical benefits of dance, there are also emotional and mental benefits that come from dance as well.

The History of dance is very complex and difficult to explain, being that it goes back millions of years ago. Dance has been a part of humanity for as long as anyone can remember, dance has evolved over time into something extravagant, it has been changed because of humanity and it has changed with humanity, and it will keep changing regardless of what we as people do to it. Dance is a wonderful thing that most people love and will keep loving as time goes on. Dance is a form of art, a language. Today we find dance in all aspects of culture.

On the day that they were given the groups, they immediately began planning and thinking about what they would do for the finals. Even though that was just a day to get together and start making a group name, they went on to plan on what they would do/use for the song. they set up things like the song they would use and even started writing down possible dance steps. By the next class or the first official day of practicing, they started off by waiting for everyone in the team to arrive at the dance studio. Once they did they continued making plans for what they were gonna do for their dance. They had already settled on the song they would use and began practicing what they had planned out. They seemed genuinely enthusiastic when it came to