Arts and Culture
Arts and Culture
Dance
Closely related to the development of American music in the early 20th century was the emergence of a new, and distinctively American, art form - modern dance.
Among the early innovators were Isadora Duncan, who stressed pure, unstructured movement in lieu of the positions of classical ballet. Martha Graham's New York-based company was perhaps the best known in modern dance.
In the early 20th century, U.S. audiences were introduced to classical ballet by touring companies of European dancers.
The first American ballet troupes were founded in the 1930s, when dancers and choreographers teamed up with visionary lovers of ballet such as Lincoln Kirstein.
Kirstein invited Russian choreographer George Balanchine to the United States in 1933, and the two established the School of American Ballet, and later on in 1948 created the The New York City Ballet.
Ballet manager and publicity agent Richard Pleasant founded America's second leading ballet organization, American Ballet Theater, with dancer and patron Lucia Chase in 1940. Paradoxically, native born directors like Pleasant included Russian classics in their repertoires, while Balanchine announced that his new American company was predicated on distinguished music and new works in the classical idiom, not the standard repertory of the past.
Later choreographers searched for new methods of expression. Merce Cunningham introduced improvisation and random movement into performances. Alvin Ailey incorporated African dance elements and black music into his works. Recently, such choreographers as Mark Morris and Liz Lerman have defied the convention that dancers must be thin and young. Their belief, put into action in their hiring practices and performances, is that graceful, exciting movement is not restricted by age or body type.
- Dance Overviews - Links from INFO-USA
Other links:
- Dance at the Close of the Century - E-Journal from State Department
- America Dancing - Kennedy Center Dance Program