1-12 Flashcards
1) Modern dance began primarily as a rebellion against what form of dance?
Ballet
2) Which date best represents the date of modern dance’s “birth” as an art form?
1900s (it started late 1800s)
3) Which American modern dance pioneer, frequently referred to as “the mother of modern dance”, was born in San Francisco, lived from 1877-1927, and went against cultural norms by performing in bare feet and using simple movements to convey complex (sometimes political) ideas and emotions?
Isadora Duncan
4) Which modern dance pioneer (1862-1928) developed her own natural movement and improvisation techniques, brought beautifully to life with unique, flowing silk costumes illuminated by multi-coloured stage lighting that she designed?
Loie Fuller
5) Which pioneering modern dance duo invented “musical visualizations” (in which dance embodied different qualities of music) and choreographed their own interpretations of the dance rituals of other cultures, including Native American, North African, Spanish, and Asian styles? Hints: They also created their own school of dance in Los Angeles, and one of them founded the famous training and performance space in Massachusetts called Jacob’s Pillow (in 1933).
Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn
6) Which modern dance pioneer believed that dance revealed the “inner landscape” of the soul, and created dances based on Americana, Greek myths, emotion, and history? Hint: she danced and taught for over seventy years, and her company and school in New York City (founded in 1926) endure to this day, three decades after her death in 1991.
Martha Graham
7) Martha Graham is known for developing this modern dance movement innovation:
Contraction-release
8) Which pioneering modern dance duo founded a school and company together in New York City in 1928, with choreography that drew on American subjects, social issues, and social harmony? Hints: One of these two pioneers explored the nuances of the human body’s responses to gravity, embodied in the principle of “fall and recovery”. At one extreme, an individual surrenders to the nature of gravity; at the other, one attempts to achieve balance - a technique developed from analyzing nature.
Doris Humphrey and Charles Weidman
9) During the 1920’s, a time of strained racial tensions, African Americans were creating a distinct voice in American modern dance. This period/movement is known as:
The Harlem Renaissance
10) In which decade did modern dance transform from avant-garde into an accepted art form, with many universities beginning to include it in their course offerings?
1930s
11) This choreographer formed his own dance company in 1946, drawing on his Mexican heritage to create award-winning choreography that is still being performed today (even though he passed away in 1972).
Jose Limon
12) This dancer, a major soloist with the Martha Graham Dance Company, founded her own company in 1952, for which she choreographed sixty-three works, thirty-six of which were based on Jewish themes.
Pearl Lang
