Research into contemporary dance style

Components of contemporary dance:

In pairs we mind-mapped key components of contemporary dance and what defines it as a style. Some of these include: Floor work, Flexion, Contraction, (High) release and spiral- pioneered by Martha Graham; Use of the torso, tilting, twisting, curving and arching- pioneered by Merce Cunningham; and various others like: use of parallel, body percussion and gestures.

Development of modern contemporary dance:

Modern dance began to develop from ballet in the early 20th century when Sergei Diaghilev created the collaborative company, the Ballet Russes, in which he encouraged choreographers to push boundaries and take artistic risks, making the Ballet Russes' work cutting edge. Also, in the early 20th century, Isadora Duncan began to interpret ballet into more flowy, expressive, natural, organic movement; showing greater stage presence over codified technique. She was also known for her use of scarves in performance to compliment her fluid movements. However, her movements were alike to ballet in the fact that it was all upright with no use of floor work. Ruth St. Denis, was the second pioneer of the early 20th century, she founded her own school with her husband called 'Denishawn' where she taught works which incorporated exotic and oriental dance, as well as training Martha Graham. It could be argued that Martha Graham was the most influential pioneer of modern dance in the last century. Her work was the first to stray the furthest from codified, traditional ballet technique. This is because Graham viewed ballet as too restrictive as it didn't show enough emotion through movement. Therefore, the main focuses of Graham technique include: releasing emotions of the inner self, pleadings, sparkles, movements that start from the pelvis, floor work and the four principles: flexion, contraction, (high) release and spiral. The final pioneer of modern dance in the early 20th century was Merce Cunningham, he believed that dance shouldn't have to carry messages, meanings or tell a story and that "the object of a dancer is to obliterate space and time" This can be seen through his use of no dominant front facings and his dancers not rehearsing with the music they'd be performing with, to ensure that the music, dance and design are of equal status. This can be seen as opposite to ballet, which has a dominant front facing and almost a direct correlation between the music and movement content. His technique focuses on use of the spine: tilting, tipping, curving, arching, twisting, with the control and clarity of codified port de bras, as well as use of difficult co-ordination of the arms and legs in relation to the placing of the torso and complex timings and facings. 

Ethos of new dance (contemporary dance around 1960/70):

• Inclusivity
• all dance forms should be valued as much as ballet
• dancers should recieve equal status/pay as other art forms
• dances should be allowed to reflect the real world
• dancers and choreographers should be allowed to create and perform outside of established companies

Characteristic features of the independant contemporary dance scene:

• collaborations and cross-overs with other art forms
• use of physiacl theatre movement sources e.g. contact improv and gestures
• reflections of social and political issue to challenge the audience
• embracing cultural similarities and differences
• finding individual movement languages
• fusions of styles
• creatively using music as an influence