American Modern Dance Forerunners Summary

Modernism in American Dance

Forerunners

  • Loïe Fuller (1862-1929)
  • Isadora Duncan (1877-1927)
  • Ruth St. Dennis (1879-1968)
  • Ted Shawn (1891-1972)

Modernism

  • Aims to reveal art's essence by stripping away tradition.
  • Focuses on movement and the human body.
  • American modernists: anti-authoritarian, valued individuality.

Forerunners' Characteristics

  • Soloists, independent.
  • Diverged from traditional roles.
  • Driven by personal motivation, not just theatrical intent.
  • Saw themselves as artists, not just entertainers.
  • Interested in nature, honesty, psychology.
  • Work was indivisible from their personal identity.
  • Used un-codified dance forms.

Their Environment

  • Late 19th/early 20th century (1890s-1920s).
  • Limited opportunities for women.
  • Growing health concerns.
  • Delsarte and Dalcroze teachings promoted body awareness.

Pioneers of Movement

Francois Delsarte
  • French philosopher; exercises for actors to connect mind, soul, life.
  • Promoted body awareness and loose dress.
Emil Jaques-Dalcroze
  • Developed Eurythmics to enhance musical expressivity through movement.
  • Fostered rhythmic sensitivity in early modern dancers.
Rudolf von Laban
  • Studied with Delsarte.
  • Focused on body-space relationship; created movement notation system.
  • Influenced modern dance choreography.

Loïe Fuller (1862-1929)

  • Actress, singer, skirt dancer.
  • Gained success in Paris.
  • Believed dance should be natural/improvisational.
  • Experimented with lighting, film, and radium.
  • Transformed skirt dancing into high art.
Art Nouveau
  • Part of Art Nouveau: nature and technology.
  • Transformed body into visual creations (lily, fire, butterfly).
  • Focused on total visual effect, body disappeared under lighting.
  • Wore no corset.
Fire Dance (1895/6)
  • Used lighting from below.
  • Blacked out stage, created black box effect.
  • Colored glass wheel to change light color.
  • Tin punch outs (gobos) shaped light beams.
Dances
  • The Serpentine (1891/2)
  • Butterfly (1892)
  • Fire Dance (1895/6)
  • Lily of the Nile (1896)
  • Night (1896)
  • La Mer (1925)

Isadora Duncan (1877-1927)

  • Raised liberally, studied poetry and classics.
  • Rejected ballet as ugly/useless.
  • Danced barefoot, without corset.
Philosophy
  • Movement from emotion/soul.
  • Body moves as integrated whole, springing from solar plexus.
  • Movement imitated nature.
  • Movement need not always be pretty or pleasing.
  • Sought to capture spirit of Greek art.
Isadorables
  • Opened dance school in 1904.
  • Creative teaching approach.
  • Choreographed to classical composers.
  • Body moved from emotional necessity.
  • Cross between modernism and romanticism.
  • No specific technique, but "daughters" codified choreography.
  • Alienated audiences with political views.
  • Spiritual leader of modern dance.
Dances
  • 1905 Brahms Waltz
  • 1905 Narcissus
  • 1911 Dance of the Furies
  • 1915 Revolutionary Dance in Red Dress
  • 1923 Scriabin Etude

Ruth St. Dennis (1879-1968)

  • Vaudeville actress/dancer.
  • Created "Egyptian dance" after seeing Isis poster.
Style
  • Theatrical.
  • Avoided social/political statements.
  • Used costumes/props for accessibility.
  • Emphasized beauty/elegance.
  • Included ritual and spirituality.
Touring
  • Found success in USA and Europe.
  • Represented spiritual, proper dance.
  • Used exotic trends in fashion/decor.
  • Conducted research but aimed to capture the spirit, not authentic dances.
Dances
  • 1906 Radha
  • 1906 The Cobras
  • 1906 Nautch
  • 1906 Incense
  • 1910 Egypta

Ted Shawn (1891-1972)

  • Used dance as physical therapy after paralysis.
  • Danced with St. Denis, married in 1914.
  • Founded Denishawn School in 1915.
Denishawn School
  • Taught gymnastics, ballet, free dance, yoga, ethnic dance, Delsarte, music visualization.
  • Toured globally.
  • Training ground for modern dance pioneers (Graham, Humphrey, Weidman).
  • Shawn and St. Denis split in 1931.
Dances
  • 1916 – The Dance Pageant of Egypt
  • 1925 – The Cosmic Dance of Shiva
  • 1933 – Kinetic Molpai
Later Work
  • 1933 formed male dance company.
  • 1941 founded Jacob's Pillow.