Modern Dance Essay: Techniques, Improvisation, and Artistic Growth

This essay delves into the core elements of modern dance, exploring the techniques, improvisation, and artistic expression that define the art form. The author discusses the importance of specific movements, the role of practice in honing skills, and the significance of understanding the body's capabilities. The essay emphasizes the cultivation of a dancer's unique artistry through introspection and self-discovery, highlighting the role of improvisation in exploring movement and validating individual choices. The author draws on the works of various scholars to support the arguments, emphasizing how modern dance classes help students to explore their unique movements and to validate the choices that they make. The essay also focuses on the importance of nurturing dance artists through solitude and reflection to foster their unique artistic expressions and the ability to create new dance forms. The essay's central argument is that modern dance is a dynamic and evolving art form, that requires both technical skill and creative exploration.

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September 2, 2024
The Art of Teaching Modern Dance
Q1.Dancing is the harness which resonate the most with me due to several things. Erkert (6)
shows that the essence of dance is to move the body in movements which are specific to a genre
and style of dancing such as modern (hip hop), classical (jazz ballet), and swing (jive). The
repetitive body movements shapes the skills needed for each distinct genre and style (Stanton
89). Dancing is important since the finesse of a dancer is honed by learning and practicing a
particular set of movements. I believe that the skill set is what prevents injuries as a student
progresses in learning new movements (Howse and Hancock 178). The range of body
movements will determine which costume is appropriate, the type of accompanying music, the
space needed to execute the dance successfully. It will influence the choice of a partner and their
level of competence in dancing which involves a duet or even a choreographed group dance of
several people as seen in Broadway musicals.
Q2. Nurturing dance artists means cultivating the habit of solitude. It is achieved through
meditation and brings out the ecstatic presence that is unique to each individual. It is this
attribute which exists deep within each artist that is manifested in particular expressions in
dancing. The artist builds up the raw passion within by being alone in a room after all the rigors
of the training which is technical. I am cultivating my artistry by doing several things. I am
continuously learning to perfect my individual expression by doing and undoing and putting all

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together again. I strip to the very essence of my being to remove the filters that may clog my
learning which will affect my artistry. By understanding the internal and external dualities of
dance, I am able to synchronize the two into dance which is artistic. My next move would ideally
be to invent new movement in dance since I believe that it is dynamic and ever changing. Erkert
(16) assert that this requires for me to look inside as well as outside for inspiration.
Q3.The role of improvisation in a modern class allows for the student to identify and sort out
what needs to be kept and that which should be put away. It gives room for the learner to explore
the range of their movements and validate the choices which are uniquely individual. The student
is able to smooth the rough surface through improvisations in the technique. At the same time,
the student appreciates the underlying rough textures of dance. Self-discovery through
improvisation is the ingredient that makes audiences come alive in a performance by a dancer.
This confirms my view about modern dance class as the way which seeks what is behind in order
to perfect and invent new forms of dance. Ekert (15) posits that the modern class of dancing
helps students to explore their unique movements and to validate the choices that they make.
Albright and Gere (21) show that this is achieved by bringing out the unconscious body
movement into the realm of consciousness in the body and mind.

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Works Cited
Albright, Ann C, and David Gere. Taken by Surprise: A Dance Improvisation Reader.
Middletown, Conn: Wesleyan University Press, 2003. Print.
Erket, Jan. Harnessing the Wind: The Art of Teaching Modern Dance, Human Kinetics, 2003.
Howse, Justin and Shirley Hancock. Dance Technique and Injury Prevention, Routledge, 2014.
Stanton, Erica. "Doing, Re-Doing and Undoing: Practice, Repetition and Critical Evaluation as
Mechanisms for Learning in a Dance Technique Class 'Laboratory'." Theatre, Dance &
Performance Training, vol. 2, no. 1, Mar. 2011, pp. 86-98.