Contemporary dance

Contemporary dance is a kind of dance performance that began in the middle of the last century. It has become very popular around the world, especially in the U.S. and Europe. While it started by borrowing from classical, modern, and jazz dance, it now mixes many different styles together.

This style of dance combines strong, controlled movements from ballet with the focus on the upper body found in modern dance. Dancers may use the floor, change speed suddenly, and improvise, or make up movements on the spot. In the 1980s, contemporary dance became more planned and thoughtful, often using ideas from math and patterns.

Contemporary dance also looks at how dances are made and what they mean. It explores big ideas like realness, identity, and what it means to be present in the moment. Through movement, it helps us think about parts of life that are hard to show in other ways.

History

Main article: Modern dance

Contemporary dance mixes ideas from classical ballet and modern dance. It started to grow in the middle of the last century and has become very popular around the world, especially in the U.S. and Europe. One important figure in this style was Merce Cunningham. In 1944, he began using music by John Cage for his dances. Cunningham started his own dance company in 1953 and created over 150 works that were performed all over the world.

Another influence on contemporary dance came from a style called Tanztheater, which means "dance theater" in German. This style used everyday movements and made art feel more like normal life. It helped contemporary dance move away from simple stories and created more mixed and unusual dance pieces.

Cunningham's key ideas

Cunningham believed that contemporary dance should focus more on the body's movements in the center rather than the leg techniques used in ballet. He thought dance did not need to tell a story and could look random while still needing skill. Dancers might change speed, direction, and do many things at once, breaking away from ballet's strict front and center views.

Cunningham also valued freedom to create, letting dance and music be separate. He felt dance should be enjoyed, not studied too much, and liked working with artists like Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg, and Jasper Johns to create new lighting, sets, and costumes.

Other important figures in developing contemporary dance include Ruth St. Denis, Doris Humphrey, Mary Wigman, Pina Bausch, Francois Delsarte, Émile Jaques-Dalcroze, Paul Taylor, Rudolph von Laban, Loie Fuller, José Limón, Marie Rambert, and Trisha Brown.

Choreographer's role

In contemporary dance, there is often a special person called a choreographer. This person makes big creative choices, like deciding if the dance tells a story or shows feelings and ideas without words. Dancers are chosen for their skills and training. The choreographer also decides how the music or sounds fit with the dance moves. Unlike other dance types, the music in contemporary dance can just be background noise. The choreographer also picks out the costumes and thinks about how they look and how they help the dancers move.

Dance technique

Contemporary dance has been shaped by new ways of thinking, which helped dancers explore new movement styles. Dancers learn many different techniques, including contemporary ballet, dance improvisation, interpretive dance, and lyrical dance. They also study modern dance styles from the United States like the Graham technique, Humphrey-Weidman technique, and Horton technique, as well as European styles such as Bartenieff fundamentals and the techniques of Isadora Duncan.

Dancers also train in practices like Pilates and yoga, as well as acting methods such as corporeal mime. Some famous choreographers, like Paul Taylor, created their own dance techniques that are now taught in schools. Others, like William Forsythe, mix ideas from art and thought to create new and exciting dance works.

Dance and technology

Contemporary dance is now including more technology, like robots. For example, a robotics engineer and dancer named Amy LaViers used cell phones in a dance to show how we rely more and more on technology every day.