modern dance: The Beginnings of Modern Dance

Developed in the 20th cent., primarily in the United States and Germany, modern dance resembles modern art and music in being experimental and iconoclastic. Modern dance began at the turn of the century; its pioneers were Isadora Duncan, Loie Fuller, Ruth St. Denis, and Ted Shawn in the United States, Rudolf von Laban and Mary Wigman in Germany. Each rebelled against the rigid formalism, artifice, and superficiality of classical academic ballet and against the banality of show dancing. Each sought to inspire audiences to a new awareness of inner or outer realities, a goal shared by all subsequent modern dancers.

Sections in this article:

• Introduction
• The Combining of Forms
• Later Dancers
• The Second Generation in America
• German Contributions
• Early Dancers in the United States
• The Beginnings of Modern Dance
• Bibliography

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2024, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

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