Modern

The second form of dance that we are going to cover is Modern Dance.

The definition of modern is: A form of contemporary theatrical and concert dance employing a special technique for developing the use of the entire body in movements expressive of abstract ideas.

Modern dancing is relatively new and started in the early 1900s. The first modern dance school was founded in 1915 by Ruth Dorthy St. Denis and her husband Ted Shawn. They founded the Denishawn school in Los Angeles, California. Ruth was mainly responsible for the creative aspect and Ted Shawn was responsible for the teaching technique.

Modern is also danced without shoes so, as I was taught, you could feel more grounded.

Some of the famous modern dancers that we know and love today were students of the school and members of their dance company. Such as Martha Graham, Doris Humphrey and Charles Weidman.

Martha Graham went on to become a well known modern dancer and there is also a modern form named after her and Graham form is the most common known form.

This video is kinda low quality, as the person who posted it states, but it shows the gist of the Martha Graham style of modern.