Modern danceModern dance is a broad

Modern dance
Modern dance is a broad genre of western concert dance, primarily arising out of both Germany and the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. (Note that contributions from American dance artists comprise this article's primary focus. Links to articles on German modern dance are included below.)
Oversimplification of modern dance's history often leads to the erroneous explanation that the artform emerged merely as a rejection of or rebellion against classical ballet. Looking more deeply, we see that as early as the 1880s, a range of socioeconomic changes in both the United States and Europe helped pave the way to tremendous shifts in the dance world. For instance: in America, industrialization, the rise of a middle class (with some disposable income and free time), and the decline of Victorian social strictures led to (among other things) a new interest in health and physical fitness.[1] "It was in this atmosphere that a 'new dance' was emerging as much from a rejection of social strictures as from a dissatisfaction with ballet."
During the 1880s, "the champions of physical education helped to prepare the way for modern dance, and gymnastic exercises served as technical starting points for young women who longed to dance"[3]—and women's colleges were already offering "aesthetic dance" courses by the decade's conclusion[4] Concurrently, dance artists such as Isadora Duncan, Maud Allen, and Loie Fuller were paving the way for aesthetic dance or free dance in the theatrical concert dance setting. As these dancers eschewed ballet's strict movement vocabulary, corsets, and pointe shoes, they searched for greater freedom of movement. Emil Rath, who wrote at length about this emerging artform at the time stated, "Music and rhythmic bodily movement are twin sisters of art, as they have come into existence simultaneously...today we see in the artistic work of Isadora Duncan, Maud Allen, and others the use of a form of dancing which strives to portray in movements what the music master expresses in his compositions—interpretative dancing."[5]

American modern dance can be divided (roughly) into three periods or eras


Dates

Era

Examples of Artists

Notes

1880-1923 Early Modern Period Isadora Duncan, Loie Fuller, Ruth St. Denis, Ted Shawn New Dance, Free Dance, and Modern Romanticism could be other names for this period. While artistic practice changed tremendously during this period, clearly distinct modern dance techniques had not yet emerged.
1923-1946 Central Modern Period Martha Graham, Doris Humphrey, Katherine Dunham, Charles Williams, Lester Horton Many dance artists during this era searched for an American way of moving, and created an American artform. They also developed clearly defined and recognizable dance training systems.
1946-1957 Late Modern Period José Limón, Pearl Primus, Merce Cunningham, Talley Beatty, Erick Hawkins, Anna Sokolow, Anna Halprin, Paul Taylor This period brought clarity of abstractionism, the rise of the avant-garde, and paved the way for postmodernist dance.