Contemporary dance info?
hey guys(:
i need to know some things about contemporary dance for my dance assignment.
anything you have to help me answer these questions would be great(:
-where did it originate?
-who started the dance style?
-what music is/was used with the style?
-what did/do people wear in this style?
-who danced this style?
-what makes this style different to others?
thanks heaps(:
Comments
This answer really depends on what you are calling contemporary dance. Some people refer to it as today's street dance (esp. in the UK.) Others refer to it as the kind of dance they call contemporary that is in competition dance. However, I will tell you about concert contemporary dance which is what you would see performed by major contemporary companies all over the world.
It is hard to say exactly when concert contemporary dance started. That is because the line is blurred with modern dance. Martha Graham, who is considered one of the founders of one of the major codified modern dance styles, hated the word "modern" dance and insisted her company be called contemporary dance. However, she is considered modern dance by most even though her company is called "Martha Graham Contemporary Dance Company". Contemporary dance sprung from modern dance. It pushed the envelope further. In modern dance, the dancers would dance barefoot and the music generally had rhythmic drums as it's base. However, in contemporary dance, the dancers can be barefoot, in socks, in pointe shoes or what ever the choreographer comes up with. I have even recently seen dancers wearing a pointe shoe on one foot and a ballet slipper on the other. Regarding the music, it can be anything or nothing. It can be any style, It can be noises. It can be people talking. It can even be total silence where the dancers dance to their own breaths to keep together. Clothing can be absolutely anything the choreographer comes up with. What makes this style different from anything else is that it has no rules at all. There is no contemporary "technique". Dancers who dance contemporary dance are trained in both ballet and modern dance. Added to that is the choreographer's own dance vocabulary. It is the choreography that makes it contemporary dance. Each choreographer has their own vision and style. I will give you some examples of some of the top choreographers/companies and you will see what I mean.
Aszure Barton http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-H3kD6trvY
Gallim Dance http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBhtE7A-mIM
Jiri Kylian http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlTh3aG9sTc&feature...
Forsythe (Mariinsky ballet) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHCUpEEqPSU
Ohad Naharin http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCaHbOLGXfY
@JenGen- I am glad to hear that regarding contemporary dance. When I first got on this site, street dancers from the UK were calling what they were doing contemporary dance. I was totally thrown by that and I thought it was used more often there.There were many UK users on here calling hip hop contemporary dance. Glad to hear that what I ran across here several years ago is not the norm but just a "glitch". Thanks for the heads up on that.
Sorry, but this is all I can currently volunteer for at the moment. I write a dance critic blog for both ballet and contemporary performance in NYC and that keeps me pretty busy.
Btw, thanks to Martha Graham who hated the term "Modern" dance and called her company "Contemporary" dance this compounds the problem. Being she would definitely fit into the modern dance genre, that has really blurred the lines. The thing is many modern companies also perform contemporary works. So do ballet companies. It is like classic modern compared to classical ballet, both unchangeable. Contemporary dance has sprung up from modern but lost the rules. It has also sprung up from ballet and blended the two at times. Some contemporary is much closer to modern and others closer to ballet. It makes it very hard to draw hard and fixed lines at times for pieces that are strongly modern that don't really adhere to or don't adhere closely to the rules of the genre.
Bit of a side issue but mintchip doesn't have an email link.
mintchip says
"Some people refer to it as today's street dance (esp. in the UK.) "
No we don't. The word "Contemporary" in the UK and most of Europe is used almost exclusively for the concert performance type of dance. "Modern" gets used as a catch all name for jazz, tap and show dance.
I have seen a creeping towards using "modern" for contemporary on a few UK websites.
When I was active at the Open Directory Project (dmoz) I used to get so frustrated because the USA editors used terms differently and kept calling contemporary dance "modern dance" whilst most editors would dump everything that wasn't folk or classical ballet into "modern".
I do so wish mintchip would volunteer there and help sort out the mess some of the dance categories are in.
http://www.dmoz.org/Arts/Performing_Arts/Dance/Mod...
Definition "Sites relating to the dance art form known as modern or contemporary dance"
http://www.dmoz.org/desc/Arts/Performing_Arts/Danc...
whilst the UK has
http://www.dmoz.org/Regional/Europe/United_Kingdom...
I'd so love to see it sorted and it needs someone with really good knowledge to do it. Mintchip, if I've persuaded you, email me.
i admire cutting-edge/modern-day greater suitable than the different form of dance. in spite of the incontrovertible fact that, ballet builds a sturdy middle and is the midsection of exceedingly cutting-edge. I strongly advise you're taking ballet and cutting-edge. cutting-edge IS like ballet, in spite of the incontrovertible fact that that is greater unfastened. Ballet helps you to construct the muscle tissues you'll want in all different varieties of dance. additionally, in spite of the particular incontrovertible fact that ballet could seem quite uninteresting and "common," it could incredibly be incredibly relaxing and tricky.