Final Flashcards
American Modern Dance Pioneers
Isadora Duncan, Maud Allen, Louie Fuller
Isadora Duncan
American modern dance pioneer. Dance = means of personal, emotional expression. Mother of Modern Dance. Influenced by Greeks. Women’s rights, big orchestral works
Loie Fuller
American modern dance pioneer. Known for theatrical effect. “Skirt dancer”. 1st multi-media artist: colored lights w/ colored films.
Maud Allen
American modern dance pioneer. Admired Greeks, influenced by Duncan. Wore transparent chiffon costumes w/ jewelry
Fore runners of Modern Dance
Ruth St. Denis, Ted Shawn (together made Denishawn School) (Ted Shawn made Jacob’s Pillow)
Ruth St Denis
fascinated by Far East and Asian culture. Very theatrical. Works were ethnic based (“Insence”, “Rada”, “Cobra”). Skills weren’t highly developed, but technique was to use many poses and decorative costumes and props. Gift for improv, aware of audience. Made Denishawn School & Company with Ted Shawn
Ted Shawn
more analytical, less mystic. Respect for technical training. Focused on the need to develop and recognize male dancers. Made Denishawn School & Company with Ruth St. Denis. After divorce, made Jacob’s Pillow
Denishawn School and Company
Founded by Ted Shawn and Ruth St. Denis. Influential on America’s youth. Toured US, dedicated to theory and technique. Had Martha Graham, Doris Humphrey and Charles Weidman
Jacob’s Pillow
founded by Ted Shawn after divorce w/ Ruth St. Denis. All male dance comopany
technique
a teachable system or progression of movement
Modern dance founders
Martha Graham, Doris Humphrey, Charles Weidman, Lester Horton (only one not from Denishawn)
Martha Graham
Modern dance founder. Student of Denishawn. Contract and release. Torso = emotional center. Dances were psychological dramas. Drama and tension in dances. Modern music. Set was symbolic and functional. Louis Horst was her music director, developed a method of teaching dance composition and founded 1st modern dance monthly journal.
Louis Horst
Martha Graham’s music director, developed a method of teaching dance composition and founded 1st modern dance monthly journal.
Doris Humphrey and Charles Weidman
Modern dance founders. Students of Denishawn. Fall and recovery, balance and suspension. Played with gravity. Subject matters were about man and women as they co-exist in modern America
Doris Humphrey - had major impact as teacher of choreography, created Musical Visualization dances at beginning of career
Charles Weidman - created dances about life and family w/ satire and humor
Lestor Horton
Modern dance founder. West Coast, not part of Denishaw. Established first racially integrated dance company in the U.S. Established first permanent modern dance theatre in LA. Developed technique that prevented injury (Horton Technique). Choreographic subjects were humanitarian based. brought out stripes of ethnic groups. Alvin Ailey was his student
Post Modernism
revolted against beginning, middle, end. Development in painting, sculpture and music. “Pop”, “minimal”, “collage”, “found art”, “body painting”. Concept and process and trial and error were as important as the work itself
Post Modern Dance Innovators
Merce Cunningham, Alwin Nokolais
Merce Cunningham
post modern dance innovator. Not a student of Denishawn. Chance dance, dance events. For and about the movement, not emotion. No “male” or “female” movements. Movement for movement’s sake, no meaning. Choreographed with John Cage (“Voiceless Essay”), Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg
Alwin Nikolais
post modern dance innovator. choreographer/non-collaborative, multi-media innovator. One-man show. Psychedelic. “Motion not emotion”
Post-Post modern movement
Pedestrian movements. Collaboration w/ theatre arts (dance theatre). Technique = release and flow. Tai Chi and yoga
Judson Dance Theatre. Steve Paxton (contact improvisation - partnered improv), Meredith Monk (vocals, voice poetry in performance).
Dance theatre
development in post-post modern movement. Genre that blends dance and theatre. Both are an integral part of performance. Performances may have spoken word, text, singing and choreography, w/ theme, dramatics, and theatrics
Jazz origins
rhythms and drumming of African slaves. Music came first, dance after. Drumming forbidden by Slave Laws because fear of secret codes hidden in drumming = body percussion and ring shout (rhythm with long stick on floor). Soft shoe derived from being forbidden to lift feet off floor, so would rub
Body percussion
developed because drumming was forbidden. Juba - rhymes to the body percussions
Ring shout
dance created by rhythm w/ long stick on floor because forbidden to drum
soft shoe (tap)
created from being forbidden to lift feet off floor in church, so would rub
Savoy Ballroom
major place where black people got together after work and danced. Eventually allowed whites to come and mingle. Influenced white culture. Created lindy hop and swing. Dance competitions and marathons
Lindy Hop
dance created from mingling of whites and blacks in Savoy Ballroom. Danced to swing music
Swing (music)
created from mingling of whites and black in Savoy Ballroom. Big band. Dance marathons & competitions
black dance is defined
as dance forms indigenous to and developed by specific African, Caribbean or Afro-American cultural groups. Should be a generic term. Idioms include traditional black dance mvmt and themes drawn from lives of black people in America
concert dance
movement learned and studied in a dance school or studio, intended for performance by a nonparticipating audience
reconstruction of researched dance
once a dance form has been removed from its authentic sociocultural context, adapted for performance, and placed in a theatrical environment for a viewing audience, it represents a new artistic expression
Katherine Dunham
jazz. African American, “Matriarch of black dance”. Dunham technique - goal to be as important to the white man as to the negro, make dance a more dignified art. “Shango” dance based on research in Caribbean ritual
Pearl Primus
jazz. Dancer, choreographer, anthropologist. Composed work about black experience in Africa, Caribbean, and in America. Reconstructed these works and brought to concert stage. Dance expression based on modern dance techniques of Graham, Humphrey/Weidman
Asadata Dafora
jazz. “Ostrich” dance - went to Africa, observed ritual, turned into concert performance
Alvin Ailey
jazz. studied w/ Lester Horton and taught at his school. Created Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre (influenced by Dunham, Graham, and Horton technique). “Revelations”. Work touches all people, but are distinctly rooted in Black American culture
Arthur Mitchell
jazz. First African American to dance w/ New York City Ballet. Founder of Dance Theatre of Harlem (first African American classical ballet company). Repertory includes African American themes and history
Eleo Pomare
jazz. “Junkie” dance of drug addict (average black urban NY man in 1970s). Used jazz music
Garth Fagan
jazz. Jamaican. Dances had Caribbean sound and African percussion. Had African dance commonalities
Jazz technique creators
Luigi, Mattox, Giordano, Fosse
Jazz characteristics
bent knees and ankles, loose spine, dynamic attack of mvmt, mvmt from pelvis, polycentric, isolations and shimmy, cool/hot, “attitude”
Jazz and entertainment
jazz music, swing, syncopated rhythms, hot/cool sounds.
Entertainers: Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire, Bo Jangles Robinson, Michael Jackson, Bob Fosse (Chicago, Cool style, swing music, song “Sing Sing Sing”).
Shows - Chicago, Sweet Charity, West Side Story, Thriller
Neo-Classic Era of Ballet (George Balanchine)
George Balanchine created this movement. Intimate relationship w/ music. Drama is in the movement. Abstract, plotless ballets. Streamlined dancers. Technique for speed. Clear, crisp spatial design, uncluttered. Minimal costuming. Favored women. Jazz influenced. Created the School of American Ballet and New York City Ballet
choric principle
everyone dancing together at same time. Group speaks as one voice. Mary Wigman (European Modern Dance Pioneer)
Mary Wigman
European Modern Dance Pioneer. Choric principle - everyone dancing together at same time
