Modern Dance Where did this movement originate from

Modern Dance Where did this movement originate from? No… Ms. Gross did not make this stuff up! It exists and is very alive. Modern and Jazz Dance companies are very prevalent in Chicago

Where did this begin? The Industrial Revolution : 1760 -1840 s (approx. ) *Time of transition *People moving to the cities *Silent film *Light Bulb *Things become more accessible

What was happening in the Visual Art World? • Impressionism: Bright colors; recreation of the impression of light on objects in return changed ways objects appeared – Starry Night by: Vincent Van Goh • Art Nuveau: Decorative Art symbolizing natural shapes… – Lewis B. Tiffany created the Tiffany Lamp

What was happening in the Music World? • Francois Delsarte: Musician/Composer; created the mentality that emotion creates motion; how you feel = how you dance • Emile Jacque Dalcroze: • Music visualization; manifesting sound and rhythm of what you are hearing; What you hear resides in the body

What was happening in the Dance World? • Randolph Van Leban: Invented labanotation which was a way to score and document sequenced dance • Ballet was happening at Metropolitan Opera – Marius Petipa was making statements in Ballet • Only other dancing was Skirt Dancing at Gentlemen’s Clubs (early days of Burlesque)

Modern Dance here we come… • Loie Fuller: – 1895 -1900 s – Skirt Dancer – Appeared in Wild West Shows – Smoked Cigars and was rather bold in appearance https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=f. Irn. Fr. DXjlk *Serpentine Dance “I’m the reason you all are barefoot! You can thank me later”

Modern Dance here we come… • Fuller presented Skirt Dancing at The World’s Fair (technology and scientific advances presentation) • Iconic Performance: “Dance Luminescence” – Used stage lighting to light herself; gas light and glass which created Impressionism – Brought presence and personality to the stage and was able to create something appealing to the nuveau artists – She embraced technology and created something new

Modern Dance here we come… • Fuller became known as “Loie the Mechanical” • She danced barefoot – Dance became known as interpretive dance – still precursor to modern dance – Not much technique involved; not developed… BUT A NEW WAY OF THINKING!!

Who came after Loie Fuller? Isadora Duncan – Skirt Dancer from San Francisco – Member of the Fuller Dance Troupe – Influenced by the artist Michelangelo • found our bodies to be living sculptures and was fascinated by this idea – She possessed some similarities to Ballet in her presentation of being lifted, but danced barefoot and broke the mold of a Ballet dancer

Who came after Loie Fuller? Ruth St. Dennis – Spiritual in dancing – Saw a poster of the Goddess Isis and decided that she wanted to embody that image – Met a man named Ted Shawn and formed a famous partnership which resulted in a school (Denishawn School) • The two eventually had future students (, Wigman, Humphrey, and Graham who became HIGHLY influential in the dance world)

Modern Dance was Born! Mary Wigman • One of the most influential creators of modern dance • She felt that you could draw “spirits” in by dance • Highly influenced by Rudolph Van Labon • Created a school to start to codify movement • Students and protégés were starting to come out from these schools and create

Modern Dance was Born! Doris Humphrey • First person to write about making Modern Dances “Art of Making Dance” • Created the idea of “Fall and Recovery” in movement

Modern Dance was Born! Martha Graham - Used deep psychological themes in her creations - She was a bit crazy!! - Her early pieces always had a story line and were emotional - Contraction and Release movement - Spiraling into the floor

Modern Dance was Born! • Schools were formed and dancers started growing into artists at these schools • So many famous choreographers came from these roots and different styles emerged • THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING… you could take a whole class in this history

So what about Modern Dance today? • It has evolved from these vary roots • Modern dance is a whole melting pot of things • Codified Techniques examples: Graham and Horton • Contemporary has derived from Modern Dance • Chicago is filled with this movement!