MODERN DANCE - Key Practitioners

Name 3 important practitioners in Modern Dance

Modern Dance is...

• A rebellion against the restrictions of Ballet

• Connected to the Women's rights movement

• An form of personal expression

• All of the above

How is modern dance different to ballet?

• Danced in bare feet

• More movement in the torso

• Subject matter more dramatic and connected to real life issues

• All of the above

Who created Chance Choreography?

• Merce Cunningham

• Martha Graham

• Alvin Ailey

• Doris Humphrey

Which modern technique tends to concentrate on the use of "fall and release" to create a dramatic style that works with the momentum and dancer can create in their movement

• Cunningham Technique

• Graham Technique

• Limon Technique

• Horton Technique

Which style of contemporary choreography explores the relationships between people and expresses a message through movement

• Narrative

• Contact Improvisation

• Chance

Who is credited with the idea of contraction and release (a torso based movement of a sharp intake of breath followed by a strong exhalation), her groundbreaking dances based on mythology, and her theatrical personality have made her oone of the best known modern dancers of all time.

• Doris Humphrey

• Isadora Duncan

• Martha Graham

• Lois Fuller

Who is credited with combining the use of the legs in ballet with he use of the torso (twist, contractions and tilts) in Graham technique to create his own technique now popular in modern dance

• Paul Taylor

• Merce Cunningham

• Alvin Ailey

• John Cage

Who developed Katherine Dunham's ideas to create contemporary dance language that incorporated African movement vocabulary in celebration of African American Heritage

• Merce Cunningham

• Alvin Ailey

• Martha Graham

• Isadora Duncan

Which technique would you like to explore more in class?

• Graham: Contraction and release

• Limon: Fall and recovery

• Cunningham: Chance choreography

• Contact Improvisation