What is Contemporary?
Contemporary dance is officially the name given to a series of dance styles including modern dance. Contemporary dance borrows elements from classical, modern and jazz styles. Contemporary dances do not use fixed moves and instead try to develop totally new forms and dynamics, such as; quick oppositional moves, shifting alignments, expressions of raw emotions, systematic breathing, dance moves performed in non-standing positions (for example lying on the floor) and in general trying to find the absolute limits of the human body.
While many dance genres, including jazz and lyrical, focus on flexibility and the mastery of various structured steps, the technique in contemporary dance is focused more upon unconventional choreographic moves that were devised in the first sixty years of the twentieth century by various masters of the craft. In addition, they took influences from non-western dance cultures, such as the down-to-earth bent knees of African style dancing. Using these elements and more, the earliest contemporary dancers were revolutionary in breaking away from classical, traditional dance forms.
While many dance genres, including jazz and lyrical, focus on flexibility and the mastery of various structured steps, the technique in contemporary dance is focused more upon unconventional choreographic moves that were devised in the first sixty years of the twentieth century by various masters of the craft. In addition, they took influences from non-western dance cultures, such as the down-to-earth bent knees of African style dancing. Using these elements and more, the earliest contemporary dancers were revolutionary in breaking away from classical, traditional dance forms.