Dance 101 1st Edition Lecture 9 Outline of Last Lecture I Modern Dance II Isadora Duncan Outline of Current Lecture II Humphrey Weidman III Ted Shawn IV Martha Graham Current Lecture Modern Dance Evolved in the late 1800s and early 1900s as a revolt against perceived restrictions limitations of ballet Age of the Individual what the individual wants to tell you and communicate to you Isadora Duncan 1877 1927 Sight specific dance freedom outdoors Rudolf Von Laban 1879 1958 Works in Germany at same time Isadora is in America Also revolted against ballet but different from Isadora by having a formula Mary Wigman 1886 1973 Student of Laban from Germany to the US Ruth St Denis 1878 1968 Miss Ruthy from new york area did theatre and dance and was a show girl that toured eaurope where she discovere dance She wanted to dance asia Egotist Made a company is NYC Went all out and blow budget on production until there was no money for the dancers Music Visualization Dance tied to music Let the music move her and interpreted the music Ruth s technique Ted Shawn 1891 1972 First male to come to Ruth for dance classes at her company Fell in love with ruth made a school company together and got married NYC drove him crazy he taught a technique for male dancers Left NYC to think about his art dance in Massachusetts farmhouse These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor s lecture GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes not as a substitute Took male dancers he was training to work on the barns in the farmhouse so they would get the strength of the male in modern dance They created performance spaces out of barns jacob s pillow When they got divorced it was an end of the era denishawn was no longer but it lived in their dancers Denishawn The company and school of Denis and Shawn Developed a modern dance company using pupils from their school Ruth based her technique on music visualization Strength of male dancers because of Shawn Jacob s Pillow Rural Massachusetts All male One of the countrys most prestigious dance schools and presenting organizations International art festival is held here every year Ted shawn established this A place for male dancers to study and work with artistic intent Male dancers trained here Vaudeville Not just dance it is Americas first variety entertainment Vaudeville houses throughout the US Different levels of entertainment comics dance commercial dance High level entertainment Broadway Sub level and low level existed as well Denis and Shawn created some things with Vaudeville to make money Vaudeville died when the TV became more accessible and used Pioneers of Modern Dance Somebody that starts something new 1 Doris Humphrey 1895 1958 Trained by Denis and Shawn Established a school and company that was tied to the school 2 Charles Weidman 1901 1975 Trained by denis and shawn Established a school and a company that was tied to the school with Humphrey called Humphrey Weidman based on the technique fall and recovery natural things that happen in the environment Technique based on Fall and Recovery Crawl fall roll Based technique on falling and recovering Technique from Humphrey Weidman Some of their dances were to make a commentary on social issues and specific to what they were living 3 Martha Graham 1894 1990 Has the most early influence on modern dance Student of denis and shawn Created so many dances Martha graham school of contemporary dance Very strict some people call her a witch Technique based on Contraction and Release Martha s technique because she is a serious person and serious about her work Based on weak tragedies psychological dramas issues in the world Technique reflects her personality Lots of contractions of muscles in the body Contraction to make smaller Release to make larger than normal Pent up energy that is later let go Cave of the Heart 1946 Based on a greek myth half man half beast Dance by Martha graham Martha danced the lead Appalachian Spring 1944 Talking about pioneers in Appalachia Dance by Martha graham Bride and groom minister pioneer woman and townspeople during a wedding day One of first times a major composer was asked to write a piece specifically for a dance New watering of America nourishing of America Martha danced in it and first male dancer in company danced in it Eric Hawkins They later got married and then divorced Night Journey 1947 Dance created by Martha graham Chronicle 1936 America doesn t support a lot of modern dance Martha graham went to Germany with her company to tour and saw beginning of Nazi movement When she came back to US she based this dance on what she saw and how this will effect the world Acts of Light Another dance by Martha graham Core of the Heart Martha s Psychological journey