Modern dancing is a broad genre of contemporary theatrical or concert dance that originated in Western Europe and America in the late 19th century and largely involved music-based dances like folk, ballet, ethnic, spiritual, and social dance. However, it was quickly distinguished from these traditional dances by its clear musical intent and by its ability to stretch and twist dance’s fundamentals. It also featured choreographic and technical innovation in the forms of breakage, suspension, and repetition. Today, modern dance is recognized as an avant-garde form of contemporary dance that challenges established notions of what is possible in dance.
One of the first movements of modern dancing to make big waves in the US was the Pop Art movement, which drew inspiration from the Abstract Expressionists and Art Nouveau artists. In it, artists portrayed everyday objects in revolutionary ways, making them more accessible and revealing hidden depths. One artist who took on this challenge was Kenneth Clark, who used objects like a piano and chair to tell a story. Other artists attached themselves closely to the avant-garde culture of the time, painting pseudo-figures that blurred the lines between reality and fantasy, or staged performances of complicated mythologies and abstract expressions.
Today, modern dance is considered to be one of the major influences of popular modern dancing like ballet dancing, hip hop, and break dance. Ballet dancing, for example, owes much of it’s popularity and influence to its French roots, while break dance began in France and has largely been a reflection of that country’s history and heritage. Many contemporary dancers today are influenced by avant-garde dance movements such as jazz, circus, and modern, contemporary dance. Many new forms of contemporary dancing have emerged from this French and American-influenced art form. Other designers have developed their own unique styles of modern dancing.