Contemporary Dance Between Modern and Postmodern

Abstract

Abstract As human beings and artists, what we produce, as well as our own selves, are visibly influenced by a complex ensemble of processes that take place around us and, in time, we can actually be regarded as their result. This evolutionary principle also applies to the role that body expression has in the wide specter of arts, including in dramatic dance and dramatic theatre. All along the XXth century and up until the first decade of the XXIst century, new performative genres have developed, for example, under the influence of political, social and cultural theories and philosophies. The result was the evolution of numerous alternative forms, supported by revolutionary theories in the dramatic field and by new approaches towards performance. Among these, we can find concepts like physical theatre, total theatre and dance theatre, all of them focusing on body expression. A notable aspect of these changes is the fact that they share the recurrent idea of a fusion between different artistic forms, incorporating dance, dramatic play and other theatrical elements in the creative processes and their outputs.