2018年12月3日 星期一

Notes on Modern Dance (part 1)- Must Known Figures


The Must-known Figures


Since the past century, there has been a dance emerging and flourishing; it was called at of "modern clothes" that was very different from the traditions and disciplines of the Stiff formality of the blade of the 19th century.

Modern dance used to be a way of life, an expression of the freedom of the spirit, unfettered by outdated traditions and opt-out beliefs. Along with its rise, it has also brought the expressionism to the dance world. It was an idea originated in painting, a subjective expression of the artists' personal reaction to events or objects through distortion or abstraction, or symbolism. And, it has remained its dominating influence on modern dance.
Isadora Duncan (1878-1927)
  1. 3 contributions
  2. Use the expansion of the kinds of movements
  3. Dance costumes, replaced the ballet outfit with flowing Grecian tunics, bare feet, and unbound hair.
  4. Introduced the use of symphonies of great masters, including Beethoven and Wagner
  5. influenced by the West & classical Greece

Ruth St Denis (1977-1968) + Ted Shawn (1891-1972)
  1. Ruth
    • influenced by the East & the Orient
    • dance: spiritual message
    • music: to be visualized
  2. Ted
    • develop pantomime (emotional expression)
    • founding Jacob’s Pillow Centre
  3. Ruth + Ted = Denishawn Company -> Martha Graham, Doris Humphrey, Charles Weidman

Mary Wigman (1886-1973)
  1. German modern dance
  2. studied dance with
    • Emile Jacques (1865-1950) who created a way to teach coordination of music and body movements called eurythmics.
    • Rudolf von Laban (1879-1958) who developed one of the methods of recording body movements on paper, which is now called Labanotation.
  3. She herself concerned with self-expressions -> psychological and emotional approaches to creativity.
  4. Believed dance should be movement alone and composed dances without music.
  5. Fully explored the use of space.
  6. Her student, Hanya Holm, adapted the German modern dance to the needs and characteristics of American dancers.

Martha Graham (1894-1991)
  1. The greatest principle was built, which is a technique built on the breathing cycle of the body and its principle of contraction and release
  2. Two major other principles
    • Motor memory
    • Percussive movement

 Doris Humphrey (1895-1958)
  1. Principle of ‘Fall-Recovery Theory’, with three separate movements: the fall, the recovery, the suspension
Lester Honton (1906-1953)
  1. Use of form and colour
  2. Theatricalization of ethnic dance form
  3. The development and training of other significant artists of modern dance, e.g. Crewe Alvin Ailey, Carmen DeLavallade, James Truitte, fashion designer Rudi Gernreich, and Bella Lewitzky.

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