The Modern Forms of Dancing - Evolution and Development

Running head: THE MODERN FORMS OF DANCING
THE MODERN FORMS OF DANCING
Name of the Student
Name of the university
Author’s note

1THE MODERN FORMS OF DANCING
Development of modern forms of dance
The author has expressed the idea that modern dance have developed drastically.
Previously modern dance was merely a homogenous entity, but with time the modern dance has
been diversified and classified and the dancers have been instrumental in bringing about this
diversification. How the modern dance have developed, can be traced back though its path of
evolution. An example can be drawn in this content is that, ballet mostly dealt with visual
beauty rather than emotions, but as ballets have evolved and have involved emotions, it did so in
such a dynamic way that the audience responded unexpectedly to this emotional content (Cohen,
1966). Hence by the 20th century individuals like Isadora Duncan and Ruth St. Denis wanted to
liberate themselves from the stringent forms of the ballet- the aristocratic connotations and the
corseted costumes.
Isadora Duncan paved the way for the concept of natural breathing, which she related to
the ebb and the waves of the ocean. The author has indicated nature as the sources of dances. He
has compared that every creature in the world moves on its own harmony, according to its
physical structure and feelings (Cohen, 1966). Hence the articulated movements of human beings
should be her own. Life is never a bed of roses; there were also jealousy, fear and hatred. Since
modern dance is the dance of life, it should also be able to portray the negativities of life through
expressions of dancing. Hence the corsets were removed and the feet were free form shoes and a
more liberated form of dancing was experimented with. As said by the author, even ballet
evolved from its conventional styles and created revolutions due to its connection with the
people and earthier movements.