Modern Dance Modern Dance in the UK London Contemporary Dance Theatre Dance post 1960

London Contemporary Dance Theatre

From the early 20th century, dancers, especially in Germany and America, experimented with freer, more personal ways of moving. They were rejecting the rigidity of classical ballet. This style of movement is often referred to as ‘modern dance’, which actually encompasses a wide range of styles and techniques.

Isadora Duncan

Isadora Duncan

Isadora Duncan dancing

Foremost among the modern dancers of the 20th century was the American, Isadora Duncan, who claimed her intention was to revive the dance of classical Greece. Her dancing was personal, emotive, and free flowing. Isadora greatly impressed the young Michael Fokine, who incorporated her free arm movements into his ballets.

Martha Graham

Martha Graham as Jocasta

Martha Graham

In the 1930s Mary Wigman in Germany and Martha Graham in America devised their own personal movement language to express the psychology and emotion of characters. They found classical ballet too artificial and restrictive.

Modern dance was well established in America long before America had its own ballet companies. Ruth St Denis and Ted Shawn, Doris Humphrey, Merce Cunningham and Alwin Nikolais all evolved highly individual styles which put America in the forefront of experimental and contemporary dance. The first generation of modern dance companies originally only performed their founder’s works.

Humphrey, Doris

American dancer and choreographer. Humphrey danced with Denishawn in the 1920s when she was encouraged to choreograph. In 1928 she formed her own company. Like all Denishawn students, she was trained in several dance disciplines, but rejected all of them and developed her own vocabulary based on the arc between balance and falling. She later also worked successfully on Broadway.

Cunningham, Merce

The most innovative and influential American choreographer, Cunningham trained in modern dance and ballet before founding the Merce Cunningham Dance Company in 1953. His works do not travel along a linear track from beginning to end but have their own internal logic. He will introduce chance elements, rearranging movements or deciding sequence order by the toss of a coin. Each movement or sound is in and of itself expressive; interpretation is imposed by the observer.

Nikolais, Alwin

Highly original American choreographer, best known for his multi-media dance theatre. Nikolais believed in 'decentralisation', which meant depersonalising dancers through costume and design so that they were freed from the constraints of individuality and the audience's focus shifted from the individual to the theatrical effect as a whole.