Dance

Modern dancing came around, at the turn of the century, when women didn't want to dance on pointe shoes any more. They wanted to be rebels. They decided to dance bare foot. People didn't like this idea. That's how it got the name "modern" dancing. Modern dancing is danced barefoot. You can dance to any music you want. Modern dancing is used to show your emotions. It is kind of like contempory. ---- Added - So.... What the Heck is Modern Dance???

The question has been asked four million times. "So, what is Modern, anyway?" "Is it like lyrical jazz?" "How about Hip Hop?" "I know, I bet it's like ballet, only looser." "I heard it's that stuff that Britney Spears does, that's pretty modern, don't you think?" "It's just kind of free flowing movement where you show your emotions."

NOPE.

The truth is, Modern Dance has been widely misunderstood. In fact, even the name is now kind of obsolete! When Modern dance began to emerge, well, it was pretty modern. But that was around 1900, making Modern Dance's foundation over a hundred years old! Shouldn't we call it something else now? Well, we can certainly see how the name "Modern Dance" only adds to the confusion.

Around 1900, the dance scene had gotten fairly stale. Romantic Ballets were just about the only things being performed, but the peak of their popularity had been some 60 years earlier. At that time, a young woman named Isadora Duncan decided there must be another way to move; ballet was too artificial. So modern dance arrived as a rebellion to ballet.

Isadora took her ideas from Greek statues and art; also drawing much of her inspiration from the music. Instead of the romantic tutus, audiences of Isadora Duncan would have seen a woman clad in long, flowing tunics and bare feet, the sight of which shocked many theatergoers. Isadora danced on a carpet, which travelled with her - perhaps to make her footfalls silent or provide a softer landing. Her dances consisted of simple phrases of movement... skips, walks and leaps, all very eloquent, the use of gestures... she would frequently end a dance with one arm drifting skyward. In any case, for an audience used to romantic ballet, Isadora Duncan was highly unusual.

---- The rest of this article can be seen at http://www.dancefestivalmusic.co.uk/modern-12/

Yes, in King Louis XIV's court.

...Yes.

See, about five or six centuries ago, ballet wasn't really ballet. It was nothing like it is now. It was more like ballroom dancing with big, clunky, heavy costumes--including bulky shoes with heels. There was a time when women weren't allowed to do ballet at all (seems impossible, doesn't it), act or virtually anything else.

Over time, ballet has become more athletic. More acrobatic and gymnastic. Everyone was allowed to dance (though dance is the sport that seems best-suited for the woman--especially ballet). Ballet started to evolve past the weighty clothing and now employs such as leo-or-uni-tards, tights and very soft, light slippers. The dancers don't just move about now. They seem to fly. They literally do the seemingly impossible. So now... ballet really IS ballet now. And it appears to be predominantly a woman's art. Women came over and just made it theirs. For the longest time, anyone with a Y chromosome could b killed for having anything to do with ballet whatsoever. But in 2000 when movies like "Center Stage" and "Turn It Up" started coming out... men were welcomed with open-arms back into the universe we call "ballet." And... all dance for that matter.

--Eternally Grateful (As I'm One Of Them), Dane Youssef