The History Of Modern Dance By Isadora Graham

Dance has been used as a form of expression and communication for millions of years. The earliest records of dance are 9000 year old cave paintings located in India. The paintings depict religious rituals, hunting, and dancing. Dance has been connected to humans as a means of expression, spiritualism, performance, pleasure, and religion since the beginning of our existence. The Egyptians even used dance in their religious ceremonies. Egyptian priest used instruments and dancers performed to depict historic events. This tradition carried over to ancient Greece where dance was performed frequently to the public. One of the most notorious dance rituals in Greece is before the start of each olympic game there would be a dance performance. This

They wanted to tell stories through movement with complete freedom and lack of restrictions. Isadorna Duncan a modern dance pioneer stated that she was “ the enemy of Ballet, which I consider a false and preposterous art, in fact outside the pale of all art”. Duncan was know as the “ Mother of Modern Dance”. She believed that all moment should start from the soul, and all her moments spurred from there. She was an extremely respected dancer and creative of the time. Martha Graham is a invator of modern dance as well. She started studying dance during her 20’s and created her own technique in regards to modern dance that is so intricate it takes ten years to master. Graham’s two principles of modern dance are contraction and release. This creates a choppy, tight movement. The contraction of the spine and rib cages allow female dancers to appear more aggressive are ready for attack. Ballets differ from modern because Ballets are meant to look graceful and Martha’s technique goes against those principles. Much like Duncan, Graham’s main goal as a choreography was to create movement that emulated the human heart in motion. Graham believed that “Dance is the hidden language of the soul”. Katherine Dunham was also a modern dance pioneer as she revolutionized American dance by referencing black dance roots and rituals. She combined African fold dance with modern to create the Dunham technique. Her smooth movements and choreography are said to be "an unmitigated radiant force providing beauty with a feminine touch full of variety and