WORKSHEET IN HEALTH OPTIMIZING PHYSICAL EDUCATION (Grade 12)

NAME: ____________________________________ TRACK/STRAND: ______________ SCORE: _______

GENERAL INSTRUCTION: Read texts carefully so that you can easily comprehend what you are reading. Follow instructions
given. Answer questions with all honesty. Review your answers. It is safe to go back and think about what you have written. This
can help you lessen if not avoid errors.
MODERN DANCE
Modern dance is a broad genre of western concert or theatrical dance, primarily arising out of Germany and the United
States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Modern dance is often considered to have emerged as a rejection of, or rebellion against, classical ballet. Socioeconomic
and cultural factors also contributed to its development.
In the late 19th century, dance artists such as Isadora Duncan, Maud Allan, and Loie Fuller were pioneering new forms
and practices in what is now called aesthetic or free dance for performance. These dancers disregarded ballet's strict movement
vocabulary, the particular, limited set of movements that were considered proper to ballet, and stopped wearing corsets and pointe
shoes in the search for greater freedom of movement.

Modern Dance were divided into three periods:

Early Modern period (c. 1880–1923)
It is characterized by the work of Isadora Duncan, Loie Fuller, Ruth St. Denis, and Ted Shawn artistic practice changed radically,
but clearly distinct modern dance techniques had not yet emerged.
Isadora Duncan was a predecessor of modern dance with her stress on the center or torso, bare feet, loose hair, free-flowing
costumes, and incorporation of humor into emotional expression. She was inspired by classical Greek arts, folk dances, social
dances, nature, natural forces, and new American athleticism such as skipping, running, jumping, leaping, and abrupt movements.
She thought that ballet was ugly and meaningless gymnastics.
Loie Fuller (a burlesque skirt dancer) began experimenting with the effect that gas lighting had on her silk costumes. Fuller
developed a form of natural movement and improvisation techniques that were used in conjunction with her revolutionary lighting
equipment and translucent silk costumes. She patented her apparatus and methods of stage lighting that included the use of
coloured gels and burning chemicals for luminescence, and also patented her voluminous silk stage costumes.
Ruth St. Denis, influenced by the actress Sarah Bernhardt and Japanese dancer Sada Yacco, developed her translations of
Indian culture and mythology. Her performances quickly became popular and she toured extensively while researching Oriental
culture and arts.
Ted Shawn, originally Edwin Myers Shawn, was one of the first notable male pioneers of American modern dance. Along with
creating Denishawn with former wife Ruth St. Denis he was also responsible for the creation of the well known all-male company
Ted Shawn and His Men Dancers. With his innovative ideas of masculine movement, he was one of the most influential
choreographers and dancers of his day.

Central Modern period (c. 1923–1946)

The choreographers Martha Graham, Charles Weidman, and Lester Horton sought to develop distinctively American movement
styles and vocabularies, and developed clearly defined and recognizable dance training systems.
Martha Graham (May 11, 1894 – April 1, 1991) was an American modern dancer and choreographer. Her style, the Graham
technique, reshaped American dance and is still taught worldwide. Graham technique is based on the opposition between
contraction and release, a concept based on the breathing cycle which has become a "trademark" of modern dance forms. Its other
dominant principle is the "spiraling" of the torso around the axis of the spine. Graham technique is known for its unique dramatic
and expressive qualities and distinctive floorwork.
Charles Weidman) was a renowned choreographer, modern dancer and teacher. He is well known as one of the pioneers of
modern dance in America. He wanted to break free from the traditional movements of dance forms popular at the time to create a
uniquely American style of movement. Weidman's movement vocabulary was based on gravity. In concentrating on this element,
the "fall was rediscovered." The idea was to explore how giving into gravity makes one fall, while balancing one's body against
gravity could create movement as well. In addition, he emphasized the movements that occurred before and after falling. This
created a whole new vocabulary of movements, which included a lot of floor work, jumping, and falling.His choreography was
expressive and usually very emotional. His work's emotions ranged from comedy to seriousness—yet the expression is always
important and always present in his choreography.
Lester Horton was an American dancer, choreographer, and teacher. Horton's dance technique, which is now commonly
known as Horton Technique, has no style. The technique emphasizes a whole body, anatomical approach to dance that includes
flexibility, strength, coordination and body and spatial awareness to enable unrestricted, dramatic freedom of expression.
Late Modern period (c. 1946–1957)

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 Erick Hawkins—A student of George Balanchine, Hawkins became a soloist and the first male dancer in Martha Graham's
dance company. In 1951, Hawkins, interested in the new field of kinesiology, opened his own school and developed his own
technique (Hawkins technique) a forerunner of most somatic dance techniques.
Paul Taylor—A student of the Juilliard School of Music and the Connecticut College School of Dance. In 1952 his
performance at the American Dance Festival attracted the attention of several major choreographers. Performing in the companies
of Merce Cunningham, Martha Graham, and George Balanchine (in that order), he founded the Paul Taylor Dance Company in
1954. The use of everyday gestures and modernist ideology is characteristic of his choreography. Former members of the Paul
Taylor Dance Company included Twyla Tharp, Laura Dean, Dan Wagoner, and Senta Driver.
Alwin Nikolais—A student of Hanya Holm. Nikolais's use of multimedia in works such as Masks, Props, and Mobiles (1953),
Totem (1960), and Count Down (1979) was unmatched by other choreographers. Often presenting his dancers in constrictive
spaces and costumes with complicated sound and sets, he focused their attention on the physical tasks of overcoming obstacles
he placed in their way. Nikolais viewed the dancer not as an artist of self-expression, but as a talent who could investigate the
properties of physical space and movement.

CONTEMPORARY DANCE

Contemporary dance is a style of expressive dance that combines elements of several dance genres
including modern, jazz, lyrical and classical ballet. Contemporary dancers strive to connect the mind and the body through fluid
dance movements. The term "contemporary" is somewhat misleading: it describes a genre that developed during the mid-20th
century and is still very popular today.

Overview of Contemporary Dance

Contemporary dance stresses versatility and improvisation, unlike the strict, structured nature of ballet. Contemporary
dancers focus on floorwork, using gravity to pull them down to the floor. This dance genre is often done in bare feet. Contemporary
dance can be performed to many different styles of music.

Pioneers of contemporary dance include Isadora Duncan, Martha Graham, and Merce Cunningham because they broke
the rules of the strict forms of ballet. These dancer/choreographers all believed that dancers should have freedom of movement,
allowing their bodies to freely express their innermost feelings. It's important to note, however, that while Graham moved into what
is now known as modern dance, and Duncan's style was uniquely her own, Cunningham is often spoken of as the father of
contemporary dance.

Historic Roots of Contemporary Dance

Modern and contemporary dance has many elements in common; they are, in a way, branches stemming from the same
roots. During the 19th century, theatrical dance performances were synonymous with ballet. Ballet is a formal technique that
developed from court dance during the Italian Renaissance and became popular as a result of the support of Catherine de' Medici.

Around the end of the 19th century, several dancers began to break the ballet mold. Some of these individuals
included Francois Delsarte, Loïe Fuller, and Isadora Duncan, all of whom developed unique styles of movement based on theories
of their own. All focused less on formal techniques, and more on emotional and physical expression.

Between about 1900 and 1950, a new dance form emerged which was dubbed "modern dance." Unlike ballet or the works
of Duncan and her "Isadorables," modern dance is a formalized dance technique with a specific aesthetic. Developed by such
innovators as Martha Graham, modern dance is built around breathing, movement, contraction, and release of muscles.

Alvin Ailey was a student of Martha Graham's. While he maintained a stronger connection with older techniques, he was
the first to introduce African American aesthetics and ideas into contemporary dance.

During the mid-1940's another student of Graham's, Merce Cunningham, began exploring his own form of dance. Inspired
by the radically unique music of John Cage, Cunningham developed an abstract form of dance. Cunningham took dance out of the
formal theatrical setting and separated it from the need to express specific stories or ideas. Cunningham introduced the concept
that dance movements could be random, and that each performance could be unique. Cunningham, because of his complete
break with formal dance techniques, is often referred to as the father of contemporary dance.

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Today's Contemporary Dance

Today's contemporary dance is an eclectic mix of styles, with choreographers drawing from ballet, modern, and "post-
modern" (structureless) forms of dance. While some contemporary dancers create characters, theatrical events, or stories, others
perform entirely new creations as they improvise in their own unique style.

Dance Technique

Dance techniques and movement philosophies employed in contemporary dance may include Contemporary
ballet, Dance improvisation, Interpretive dance, Lyrical dance, Modern dance styles from United States such as Graham
technique, Humphrey-Weidman technique and Horton technique, Modern dance of Europe Bartenieff Fundamentals and the dance
technique of Isadora Duncan (also see Free dance).
Contemporary dancers train using contemporary dance techniques as well as non-dance related practices such
as Pilates, Yoga, the acting practice of Corporeal mime - Étienne Decroux technique and somatic practices such as Alexander
technique Feldenkrais Method, Sullivan Technique and Franklin-Methode, American contemporary techniques such as José
Limón technique and Hawkins technique and Postmodern dance techniques such as Contact
improvisation and Cunningham technique, and Release technique.
Some well-known choreographers and creators of contemporary dance created schools and techniques of their own. Paul
Taylor developed a dance technique called Taylor technique, which is now taught at modern dance schools like The Ailey School
in New York City.
Activity 1: ESSAY

Direction: Read carefully the questions below. Answer the following (3-5 sentences).

Explain the following development of modern dance in each period.

1. Early Modern Period

2.
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Central Modern Period

3.
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Late Modern Period

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Activity 2: IDENTIFICATION
Direction: Identify the following. Choose your answer from the box below. Write your answer in the space provided before the
number.
Lester Horton Charles Weidman Paul Taylor
Isadora Duncan Ted Shawn

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______________ 1. He was a renowned choreographer, modern dancer and teacher. He is well known as one of the pioneers of
modern dance in America.
______________ 2. He was one of the first notable male pioneers of American modern dance. Along with creating Denishawn with
former wife Ruth St. Denis.
______________ 3. was a predecessor of modern dance with her stress on the center or torso, bare feet, loose hair, free-flowing
costumes, and incorporation of humor into emotional expression. She was inspired by classical Greek arts, folk dances, social
dances, nature, natural forces, and new American athleticism such as skipping, running, jumping, leaping, and abrupt movements.
____________ 4. He was an American dancer, choreographer, and teacher. Horton's dance technique, which is now commonly
known as Horton Technique, has no style. The technique emphasizes a whole body, anatomical approach to dance that includes
flexibility, strength, coordination and body and spatial awareness to enable unrestricted, dramatic freedom of expression.

______________ 5. He use of everyday gestures and modernist ideology is characteristic of his choreography

Activity 3: Essay
Direction: Read carefully the questions below. Answer the following (3-5 sentences)
a. What are the characteristics of a contemporary dance?
b.
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What is the difference between Modern dance and Contemporary dance?

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Reflection
Direction: Write your personal insight about the topic.

I understand that

I ______________________________________________________________________________________________
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realize that