DANC 101 1nd EditionExam # 3 Study Guide Lectures: 8 - 13Modern Dance o Evolved in the late 1800s and early 1900s as a revolt against perceived restrictions/limitations of balleto America still doesn’t support a lot of modern danceo Themes, inspirations involve real life situations and societal issueso Continued fascination with the Ancient World – India, China, Egypt, Greeceo Genre differs widely in style, approach and methodologyo No more storylines in ballet and ballet was known as the ‘noble’ and ‘wealthy’ concert danceo Modern dance is about individualismo COMMUNICATION is still the reason for dance; to run human emotion and thought process- Isadora Duncan (1877-1927)o Free, flowing fabrics, unrestricted clothing and bare feet, connection with nature and outdoors, bohemian and hippie-like, wanted to stand out. Her technique doesn’t live on, but it she made it acceptable not to be so proper like ballet. Not a strict or structured technique, it was all about freedom, therefore no one studied or mastered her dance because it was all over the placeo Known as the ‘Mother’ of modern danceo Created her own choreography and performed wherever she could to get money/ fameo Started in California and left for Greece where her goal was to build a new temple to dance, but she never followed through with this dreamo Ended up homeless in England, eventually beginning to dive dance lessons while traveling from place to placeo Paris Singer, a millionaire, was her husband who let her use their house for recitalso She died in a car accident, like her children, both accidents were in the same river right outside of Paris Died in early middle age. Her scarf strangled her, getting caught in the wheel of the caro “Air on the G String” She loved the key of ‘G’ music This was plaid at her funeralo “Mother” Dance she was best know for This dance was created to remember her children- she danced out her griefo Isadorables These are young children that followed Isadora, until they realized dance is an art and technique, so they left her.- Loie Fuller (1862-1928)- Rudolf Von Laban (1879-1958)o Labanotation A system of writing down dance, they would record dance and wrote books about ito Laban Movement Analysis How to analyze dance; a scientific method based on time, space, and shape. This was used to analyze whether a dance was good, in the right proportion- whether the dance would get the message across and what it is trying to expresso German dancer and choreographer; Germany’s equivalent to Isadora Duncan but almost the opposite in terms of technique. He worked in Germany at the same time Isadora was in America He also revolted against ballet, like Isadora.o Much more organized and disciplined- Mary Wigman (1886-1973)o Student of Rudolf Van Laban who started in Germany and moved to America- Ruth St. Denis (1878-1968)o “Music Visualization” This is Ruth’s technique- she would tie the dance to the music and would interpret the music by letting the music move hero Also known as ‘Miss Ruthy’o Did theatre and was a show girl in NYC; when she toured Europe she discovered dance and brought it back to NYC where she made a company Her productions were extravagant; she went all out and blew her budget until there was no money to pay the dancers- Ted Shawn (1891-1972)o 1st male to go to Ruth for her dance classes at her company. They fell in love and made a company/school (Denishawn) and got married.o NYC drove him crazy so he moved to Massachusetts to train his male dancers. (Jacob’s Pillow)o Denishawn The company and school of Ruth Denis and Ted Shawn Ruth Denis taught the female dancers her technique of ‘music visualization’ Ted Shawn taught the male dancers his technique; male dancers became extremely strong Ruth taughto Jacob’s Pillow A barn/farmhouse in rural Massachusetts where Ted Shawn trained his (ALL) male dancers and strengthened them- they didn’t only practice dance here, they also did work hard around the barn to roughen them upo The male dancers also studied here and worked with artistic intent This is one the country’s most prestigious dance schools and an international art festival is held here every yearo Vaudeville This is Americas 1st variety entertainment- not just dance/ballet; had comics, dance, commercial dance, music, exc.o Similar to Broadway Denis and Shawn created some pieces that were a part of Vaudeville to make money“Pioneers” of Modern Dance- Doris Humphrey, Charles Weidman, Martha Graham, Hanya Holm & KurtJooss- Doris Humphrey (1895-1958)o Trained by Denis and Shawn and established a school/ company with Charles Weidman- Charles Weidman (1901-1975)o Also trained by Denis and Shawn and established a school/ company with Doris Humphrey The ‘Humphrey-Weidman’ school/company was based on a technique called ‘fall and recovery’. o “Kinetic Pantomime” o “”The Shakers” (1931)o “Lynch Town” (1935)o “Water Study” (1928)o Technique based on Fall and Recovery Technique taught at the ‘Humphrey-Weidman’ school Based on natural things that happen in the environment- crawl, fall, roll, recover Some dances were to make a comment on social issues specific to when they were living- Martha Graham (1894-1990)o She has the most early influence on modern danceo Student of Ruth Denis and Ted Shawno Created the ‘Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance’o Very strict in personality- some even called her a witch; a serious person and serious about her work; also egotisticalo Technique based on Contraction and Release Based on weak tragedy, psychological dramas, issues in the world; a technique that reflects her personality Lots of contractions of muscles in the body (contraction- making body smaller; release- making body larger than normal). Like pent up energy that is being let go and now freeo “Cave of the Heart” (1946) Based on a Greek myth- half man, half beast Martha was the leading dancer in her own danceo “Appalachian Spring” (1944) About Pioneers in Appalachia; a bride and groom, minister, pioneer woman and townspeople during a wedding day; about a new ‘watering’ and nourishing of America One of the 1st times a major composer was asked to write a piece specifically for a dance Martha and Eric Hawkins (the first male dancer in her company) danced in it. They were married for a