What is modern dance?
Infinite_Horizon
tell me what modern dance is ...
sho...@ibm.net
>please tell me what modern dance is
One answer may be found in Tom Parson's Ballet-Modern FAQ "B.2. What is
modern dance?"
http://www.panix.com/~twp/dance/faq_1.htm
--
Bob Shomler
http://www.jps.net/shomler/ballet.htm
Nanatchka
Are you going to do it or study its history, and doesn't the catalogue have a
little description? If you are going to do it, what it is will depend on the
teacher, but it will not have pointe work. If you are going to study it, it
will start sometime around Isadora Duncan and not involve ballet, probably.
Nanatchka
Bang2B
dance meant to me, telling me that in Europe the term refers to a historical
period involving such figures as Graham, Humphrey, Weidman, Holm, Limon and so
forth. I agreed that it is used that way among my colleagues. I think Mark
Morris is a modern choreographer by that definition. Then there's twentieth
century modernism which is an esthetic category in which I would include
Nijinsky, Fokine, Balanchine, Tudor (sometimes) and eliminate much of Graham,
all of Limon, and bring in Cunningham.
David
AT
sense of contemporary dance. When it's Modern Dance, I think it does refer
to a specific period. There's always been a problem with finding a good
word for it that isn't a "not" -- notballet, notshowdancing, nottap, etc.
Anyone who comes up with the perfect word that can include Merce Cunningham
through Mark Morris will become instantly (and deservedly) famous.
Among the very young, it seems that modern dance means "movement" rather
than "steps." I found this surprising, but interesting.
I also agree with David that "modernism" is different from modern dance.
Another word that will need replacing.
Alexandra
Bang2B <ban...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:19990906111642...@ng-cc1.aol.com...
Bang2B
I agreed with most everything you said Alexandra, except that I think modern
dance, or maybe modernist dance can certainly be tap, ballet or showdancing.
I'm not trying to contradict, just to add.
tap, tap
David
Steve Keeley
writes:
>Anyone who comes up with the perfect word that can include Merce Cunningham
>through Mark Morris will become instantly (and deservedly) famous.
A few months back, I went up to Irvine, CA to see the Mark Morris Dance Group
perform "Falling Down Stairs" followed by a Q&A session with Morris and Yo-Yo
Ma. One of the questions asked, by a child who was learning the different forms
of dance, was "What kind of dance do you call that?"
Morris' answer: "I just call it 'dance'."
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Jeffrey E. Salzberg
svke...@aol.comxspam says...
> A few months back, I went up to Irvine, CA to see the Mark Morris Dance Group
> perform "Falling Down Stairs" followed by a Q&A session with Morris and Yo-Yo
> Ma. One of the questions asked, by a child who was learning the different forms
> of dance, was "What kind of dance do you call that?"
>
> Morris' answer: "I just call it 'dance'."
Thank you, Mr. Morris. This endless struggle to categorize and
pigeonhole is divisive, disruptive, and disturbing.
Jeff, a neoclassical postmodern ballet master and lighting designer.
MichaelG
Jeffrey Wrote:
"This endless struggle to categorize and pigeonhole is divisive, disruptive,
and disturbing."
Personally I can't put such negative and dramatic emphasis on the
"categorizing" of different styles of dance. To do such would blur the
lines and create confusion. There is already enough of that. Exemplified
in our seeming inability to define what modern dance IS. Many of the
explanations I have read on this subject so far refers to various
individuals
as defined by the styles they created. Which is perfectly reasonable.
However our problem is, we can't define a particular genre of our art form,
because in doing so we run the risk of categorizing those individuals who
participate in it. It goes without saying that modern dance is the most
subjective form of theatrical dancing, since it cannot be defined as
relating to a particular geographic region as it relates to that region's
culture. Nor can we define it through a codified example of technique and
steps as in classical ballet.
To be disturbed by this is fruitless. The removal of definitions diminishes
each
aspect of the art of dance. Should we not call a mazurka a mazurka? Or a
polonaise a polonaise? Should the classical ballet be described simply as
dance? Would that not serve to wipe away 500 years of evolutionary
development of the art form? Should tap be defined the same way as any
other
form of dance? It is indeed all dance, however it is not the same. Each is
distinct and needs to defined. Our struggle to define modern dance is not
due to our desire to set it apart in any negative fashion. It is to give
proper regard to those who pioneered it as well as to those who further it
through their efforts. They, too, need to have their niche established and
maintained. This can only be done by attempting to understand through our
effort to define their work. Modern dance is not Classical Ballet is not
jazz.......Graham is not Cunningham is not Horton........However they are
indeed connected and they each have carved out a distinct place in the world
of dance. Collectively, they deserve that definitive place where we can all
go to understand what modern dance IS.
Peace
MG
Dean Speer
and called her school the "Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance."
Dean Speer Special Projects & Programs, School of Law
UW Box 354600, (206) 685-1327, FAX: 543-5671
bal...@u.washington.edu
"Chocolate First!"
On Mon, 6 Sep 1999, AT wrote:
> That's a good point. "Modern Dance" is different from modern dance, in the
> sense of contemporary dance. When it's Modern Dance, I think it does refer
> to a specific period. There's always been a problem with finding a good
> word for it that isn't a "not" -- notballet, notshowdancing, nottap, etc.
> Anyone who comes up with the perfect word that can include Merce Cunningham
> through Mark Morris will become instantly (and deservedly) famous.
>
db
which perhaps should now be Modern Dance, as described below. That includes
postmodern dance. Hallmarks are the building of a personal vocabulary (now from a
more eclectic variety of sources than ever) to express a personal vision, the use
of the floor, use of torso, etc. I think Modernism is a specific 20th century
approach in the arts, an historical style now though many still operate within its
influence and tenets.
But why I'm responding is my surprise that you've eliminated much of Graham. How
definitely a Modernist she is in her rebellion against what was extant. Her
angularity relates to much Modern(ist) art, her non-linear way of telling stories
could not be more Modernist. Though a second generation Modern Dance
choreographer and often lyrical in a way that may not seem Modernist now, Limon
was also a Modernist. Think of how he compresses and stylizes to get out the
essence of Othello in The Moor's Pavane--an abstract Modernist approach to
narrative that cuts through to the core. Or the lines and volumes of his solo
Chaconne which is very much like a decidedly 20th century moving sculpture.
Naming historical styles helps us define what we think about them. When the
boundaries are unclear it makes us think even harder about what we've seen.
--Lobelia