EXAM 3

 United States and Western Europe

 Bare feet is sign of modern dancers
 Talent is not considered unless you have the proper body type.
o Long legs/arms, arched feet, extension
 In modern dance you could dance just about anything
o Family, love, political issues, anti-war, anti-involvement, racism, protests
THE FORERUNNERS
 Isadora Duncan
o Leading forerunner
o Mother of modern dance
o Earliest hippie, quirky
o Cali girl; trained herself
o Lower middle class family
o Didn’t like ballet, too restricting
o Wasn’t accepted in US
o Bought herself a cattle boat and went to Greece
o Her plan was to build a temple to dance
o Had no money
o Not smart
o The family went back to US
o She went to Europe and was homeless and lived on streets
o Met fellow artists and became friends
o Called her students isadorables
o Went from school to school
o Mistress of wealthy men
 Paris something
o Enrollment in her school was down bc parents didn’t like her teaching
o Ties to natural organic lifestill
o Married once to russian arisocrat
 Commited suiside in same hotel as honeymoon
 Bc of her lack of love for him
o She was drama queen
o FREEdom: a word to describe her
o "Air on the G string" is her favorite music
 Played at her funrnal
 Known all over europe as american barefoot dance r
o "Mother" is name of piece she choreographed after her two kids died from car
accident (drowned)
 Created dance to mourn them
o She died in a car accident; her scarf got stuck on wheel and everytime the wheel
would spin the scarf would tighten and she was strangled to death
o Famous works "Mother" and "Revolutionary"
 
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 Loie Fuller
o Experimented with lighting techniques; danced with flowing fabrics to pick up
light shades; also experimented with colored film
o She also liked free flowing fabrics
o Into color photographs
 Hand colored pictures to show movement
o Famous works "Serpentine Dance" and "Fire Dance"
 Rudolf Von Laban
o Father of German modern dance
o Developed a system of dance notation called "Labanotation"
o Developed a systematic notations of space, efforts, and shapes
o Fascinated with the space surrounding the human body
o Famous works "Funeral of the Green Clowns"; "Vorn Tauwind und der Neuen
Freude (Of the Spring Wind anf the New Joy"
o German choreogrpaher
o Very maticulous
o Wrote everything down and analyzed it
o Labanotatin: how to write down dance; stick figures, a way to write things down
o Laban Movement Analysis: how to decide if the dance is good
 
 Mary Wigman
o Student of Von Laban
o Worked with him in germany
o Expressionistic style; works contained meaning and emotion; danced in silence
or used percussion instruments; exhibited fascination with special design-influenced
by Laban
o Famous works "Witch Dance" and "Dance of Sorrow"
 Ruth St. Denis
o Show girl out of new jersey
o Music visualization--> she would pay down and listen to something and then
jump up and dance
o Loved to spend money and beautiful things
o Fascinated with "music visualization"
o Imagined scenarios from the music and created choreography
o Influenced by Asian culture
o Famous works "Radha" and "The Legend of the Peacock"
 Ted Shawn
o Formed school and company wit Ruth
 Denishawn
 First bi coastal school
 New York; Silcon Valley in Cali
 Spent all money on beautiful costumes
o Loved dance
o Made lavish performaces and never made nay money
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o Made it a true profession

o Wanted to express the importance of male dancers
o Influenced by Asian culture and religious expression
o Exhibited the male body in his choreography
o Famous works "Jular of the Sea" and "Ponca Indian Dance"
 Jacobs Pillow
o Place in rural Mass.; ted moved company to this place in the countryside
o Now a wedding destination
o Ruth and Ted separated
o Floating stage
 Vaudeville
 Before you break boundaries you have to establish boundaries; that’s what modern
dance is all about
 
THE PIONEERS
 Doris Humphrey
o Assisted in creating "music visualization"
o Technique was based on fall and release
o Exhibited the human body's response to gravity
o Also created dances based on concerns in the Great Depression
o Famous works "The Shakers" and "Water Study
 Charles Weidman
o Dance company= Humphrey & Weidman dance company
o Created comic dances; experimented with "kinetic pantomime"
o Technique based on fall and recovery; emphasized balance
o Famous works include "Lynch Town" and "Flickers"
 Martha Graham
o One of the 4 pioneers of dance
o Always put herself in the lead of dances
o "Appalachian Spring" is most famous piece
o Owned a studio
o Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance
o Technique: contraction and release
 Abdominals
 A certain tension
o Dances were psychological dramas; based on Greek mythology
o Technique based on contraction and release; like angular looks of the human
body
o Famous works "Cave of the Heart" and "Appalachian Spring"
 Hanya Holm
o Choreographed Broadway musicals; emphasized the freedom of the back and
torso; experimented with floor patterns and spatial relations; did not include
dramatic qualities or pantomime
o Famous works "Kiss me Katie" and "My Fair Lady"
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 Kurt Jooss
 
THE SECOND GENERATION
 Martha Hill
o College Professor at Bennington College and then later Julliard School (top art
school in US)
o Created American Dance Festival
 Second most famous dance festival
o Costly to live, eat, and basically everything in NYC, so she hosted the festival at
Duke, NC. So now Durham, NC is the new home for the festival
o Bennington --> Julliard --> Duke
 Anna Sokolow
o One of the first members of the Martha Graham Company
o She later established her own company
o Works were connected political and socail commentary on societal issues
o "Rooms" = feeling isolated from outside world (one of most famous works from
her)
o Dances were influenced by political and social issues; works include dramatic
imagery and depicted human experiences
o Famous works "Rooms" and "Anti-War Trilogy"
 Jose Limon
o Technique: balance, speed, and control
o Student of Humphrey
o Born in Mexico but lived in American whole life
o Influenced by Mexican heritage; also focused on the principles of fall and
recovery and weight
o Famous works "The Moor's Pavanne" and "La Malichine
 
 Erick Hawkins
o Technique based on ease and free flow of movement
o Opposite of Martha Graham
o Martha Graham connection: First male of Martha Graham's company and
married her (played part of groom in her piece App.)
o Degree in Greek Civilization from Harvard
o Danced with Balanchine (early in his career)
o Famous works "Plains Daybreak" and "Eight Clear Places"
 Lester Horton
o Studied with Martha Graham and with other major choreographers
o Dancer lived and worked in LA
o Native American cultural influences in dance
 Studied tribes by living with them
o Alvin Ailey connection: First professional teacher of Alvin Ailey in LA
 First of major teachers
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o Technique requires a strong torso and uses both symmetrical and asymmetrical
styles
o Influenced by American Indian culture
o Technique requires strong torso and include symmetrical and asymmetrical
movements of the arms and legs
o Famous works "Dance of the Leopard Man" and "The Beloved"
 
BLACK CONCERT DANCE
 Katherine Dunham
o Technique combines indigenous Caribbean and modern dance
o A researcher and scholar in the field of Anthropology
 Involved with cultural anthropology
o Founded the field of Dance Anthropology
o Lived and researched in Jamaica, Haiti, Martinique, Trinidad, and Tobago
o Historian call her the "Matriarch and Queen Mother of Black Dance"
o Performed in "Cabin in the Sky" (Broadway) which was staged by George
Balachine
o "Negro Rhapsody"; "Barrelhouse Blues"; "Stormy Weather"; "Tropics"; and "Le
Hot Jazz"
o Focused on black concert dance and overcoming racial stereotypes
o Technique combined native Caribbean and modern dance
 Talley Beatty
o "The Road of the Phoebe Snow"; "Mourner's Bench"
 Motif: phase of movement that helps the audience members understand
the story
 Take arm and bends it and flutters it: angel carrying his friend
after he has died
o Combined modern dance and jazz; focused on racial injustices; dancing was fast
and athletic
 Pearl Primus
o Student of all four of the Pioneers of Modern Dance
o Athletic and Dynamic Movement
o "Strange Fruit"
o Exhibited african dance and culture
 Alvin Ailey
o Created a dance school and two professional performing companies that are
multi-racial although predominantly African American
 Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre
o Created 79 works for his dancers
o Ailey's companies have performed more than 200 works by over 70
choreographers
o "Revelations"; "Cry"; "For Bird with Love"; "Night Creatures"; "The River";
"Flowers"; "Myth"; "The Lark Ascending"; "Hidden Rites"
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o Influenced by The Bible as well as Negro spirituals; combined jazz and world
dance in his style; dancing was very theatrical
 Donald McKayle
o Faculty at Connecticut College, Sarah Lawrence College, Bennington College, and
UC Irvine
o Dancer, choreographer, teacher, director , and writer best known for creating
socially conscious concert works during the 1950s and 60s that focus on expressing
the human condition and the black experience in America
o Danced with Martha Graham, Anna Sokolow, Charles Weidman, and Merce
Cunningham
o "Rainbow 'Round My Shoulder"
o Broadway: "Raisin" (1973); "Sophisticated Ladies" (1981)
o Choreographed more than 70 modern dance works
o Choreography is concerned with black experiences and racial stereotypes in
society; choreographed several broadway musicals
 
POST MODERN DANCE
 Merce Cunningham
o Father of post-modern dance
o Developed the Cunningham technique which focused on twisting and turning
spinal movements; also included swift direction changed and weight shifting
o Dances lacked meaning; believed in improvisation in choreography
o Famous works "Field Dances" and :Points in Space"
 John Cage
o Composer of electronic music
o Teaches at University in NYC
o Collaborations with visual artists and composers
o Computer technology and dance
 Alwin Nikolais
o Experimented with lighting and theatrical usage of costumes and props; was
concerned with motion, not emotion
o Famous works "Sanctum" and "Tensile Involvement"
o Nikolais Lab
o Motion not emotion
 Murray Louis
o Nikolais-Louis Dance Lab
 Also Dance Company
 Paul Taylor
o Forerunner of the post-modern movement
o Paul Taylor Dance Company
o Experimented with sound scores and pedestrian movement; dances evolved to
include athletic and dynamic movement
o Several of his works had developed narrative
o His inspiration for choreography came from everywhere
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o Famous works "Big Bertha" and "Aureloa"

 
POST MODERN-SECOND GENERATION-THE NEXT WAVE
 Judith Jamison
o Taught the Dunham and Horton technique in the Alvin Ailey American Dance
Theatre
o Famous works "Reminiscin'" and "Hymn"
 Bill T. Jones
o Choreography contains developed narratives and dramatic tones; works are
emotional and controversal
o Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company
o Famous works "Mother of the Three Sons" and "Still/Here"
 Garth Fagan
o Style mixes modern dance, jazz, and world dance
o Works are somewhat autobiographical
o The Lion King
 Twyla Tharp
o Style combined ballet, modern dance, tap, and jazz
o Included a relaxed torso, but very dynamic arm and leg movement
o Referred to as a loose style but was very technically difficult
o Famous works "Push Comes to Shove" and "Deuce Coupe"
 Pina Bausch
 Mark Morris
o Known for sophisticated music use and delicacy in movement
o Famous works "Glorie" and "The Hard Nut"
 
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