Modern Dance Research Articles

India's Graham: Martha Graham's Impact on Indian Modern Dance

I conducted semi-structured open-ended Zoom interviews with seven Indian dancers who studied with Martha Graham or her company between 1964 and 2009. Many of these dancers connected with Indian concepts and subject matter for the first time or in a new way through Graham, a phenomenon that would prove controversial in artistic milieus that pressured artists to serve cultural authenticity or embody a degree of ‘Indian-ness.’ Sparking questions and inspiring new approaches, Graham's impact on Indian modern dance cannot be ignored. This paper investigates the new direction(s) brought to Indian dance during and after the post-colonial period. The Indian Graham dancers profiled herein also deserve to be acknowledged in dance scholarship for their contribution not only to new directions within Indian dance, but also to cross-cultural collaborations such as 2020's Movement Migration, which continue to strengthen Indo-American relations via kinaesthetics.

The impact of breathing, perceptivity, imagination and creativity on oneness of mind and body in dance performance

Interest in the immersive expression of dancers in contemporary performances is growing, often relying on body knowledge and awareness. However, a noticeable gap exists in empirical research aimed at enhancing body awareness within the modern dance education system. The aim of this study is to investigate on the oneness of mind and body the influences of breathing, perceptivity, imagination, and creativity. Employing a quantitative research methodology, this study administered a questionnaire to 47 dance students at Hunan Women's University in Hunan Province, China. Regression studies carried out reveal a comparable positive and substantial association between creativity and the harmonization of mind and body as well as a positive and significant link between breathing and oneness of mind and body. Interestingly, the relationship between perceptivity, imagination, and the oneness of mind and body did not exhibit statistical significance. We posit that the lack of a significant relationship may be influenced by variables extending beyond the scope of dance, suggesting the need for deeper investigation in the future. These findings not only contribute to our knowledge of dance but also have practical implications for dancers, educators, and researchers in the field.

Formation and Development of Stage Ballroom Dance in Ukraine from the Mid-90s of the Twentieth Century to the Early 20s of the Twenty-First Century

The purpose of the article is to analyse the formation, tendencies and peculiarities of the development of stage ballroom dance in Ukraine from the mid-90s of the twentieth century to the early 20s of the twenty-first century. The research methodology is based on the principles of objectivity, historicism, and systematicity. To achieve the goal, the following methods were used: systematisation – to understand the combination of events in stage ballroom choreography; synthesis – to analyse the specifics of the processes of development of stage ballroom choreography in Ukraine; included observation – to review individual choreographic works, stage performances and their preliminary comprehension. Scientific novelty. For the first time, an art historical analysis of the formation and development of stage ballroom choreography in Ukraine was conducted, the specifics of the existence of ballroom choreography in the stage space were highlighted through the prism of the activities of theatres, show ballets and ballroom dance groups that have been operating since the 90s of the twentieth century. Conclusions. It is important to note that one of the most powerful areas of national choreographic art is stage ballroom choreography. Ukraine is a leader among other countries in the world in popularising ballroom dancing through theatrical and stage practice. In other countries of the world, the competition and sports direction are developing more actively, and foreign show ballets are synthesised forms of classical and modern dance with some elements of ballroom dance. Instead, Ukrainian dancers, including students and graduates of the Department of Choreographic Arts of the Kyiv National University of Culture and Arts (specialising in ballroom choreography), create a large number of choreographic productions, concerts, show programmes, musicals, ballets based on the vocabulary of ballroom choreography, which, unfortunately, remain the property of the local dance community. In our opinion, it is the lack of promotion of this art form, as well as the absence of systematic state support for this industry, that makes it impossible to convey to a wide range of viewers the high potential of ballroom choreography as a spectacular stage and dramatic art form.

A Diffusion Modeling-Based System for Teaching Dance to Digital Human

The introduction of artificial intelligence (AI) has triggered changes in modern dance education. This study investigates the application of diffusion-based modeling and virtual digital humans in dance instruction. Utilizing AI and digital technologies, the proposed system innovatively merges music-driven dance generation with virtual human-based teaching. It achieves this by extracting rhythmic and emotional information from music through audio analysis to generate corresponding dance sequences. The virtual human, functioning as a digital tutor, demonstrates dance movements in real time, enabling students to accurately learn and execute dance postures and rhythms. Analysis of the teaching outcomes, including effectiveness, naturalness, and fluidity, indicates that learning through the digital human results in enhanced user engagement and improved learning outcomes. Additionally, the diversity of dance movements is increased. This system enhances students’ motivation and learning efficacy, offering a novel approach to innovating dance education.

Страх красоты

The article discusses the problem of rejecting the image of beauty in modern dance. It is indicated that the theme of despair, fear, violence and depression begins to dominate in modern dance since its inception in the 20s of the last century. The characteristic features of movements and plasticity in expressionist dance, in the school of M. Graham, are described: broken vertical, inwardly turned chest and feet, sharpness and convulsiveness of movements, blows aimed at oneself, etc. The article consistently examines the possible causes of this trend, such as technical ease and accessibility, lower energy cost of ‘sad dances’, as well as the opportunity to demonstrate originality, nonconformism, express social protest, etc. There is an opinion that the expression of pathological motives, negative feelings, fears in art contributes to the liberation from their destructive effect in real life. This approach is questioned, because there is also a reverse mechanism: as a result of viewing relevant plots (for example, scenes of violence), infection with emotions occurs, role models arise, and the thresholds of what is permissible decrease. Along with criticism of a number of trends in contemporary art, the importance of the concept of ugliness for culture is emphasized. Meeting one’s own infirmity and imperfection, be that physical, psychological or moral, plays an essential role in the spiritual development of a person. However, modern art, including the dance performances considered, follow the path of establishing ugliness as a new norm and cultivate the perverted reality of the ‘sick’ creativity of a disintegrating personality. The expression of beauty, on the contrary, is characteristic of an integral personality striving for perfection and praising life.

Performance Quality Assessment in Ballet, Modern and Contemporary Dance: A Two-Step Systematic Review.

Introduction: Measurement of performance quality in dance is important but challenging and few dance performance quality measures exist. This study aims to (1) identify and (2) assess the quality of dance performance outcome measures for ballet, modern and contemporary dance. Methods: A 2-step systematic review with two separate literature searches was conducted. Step 1 involved a systematic review to identify all ballet, modern and contemporary dance performance quality outcome measures. Step 2 involved a systematic review to identify studies that reported measurement properties (eg, validity, reliability) of the tools identified in Step 1. A comprehensive electronic search of MEDLINE, SPORTSDiscus, CINHAL, Embase and IADMS Bibliography was conducted from inception to November 2020 (Part 1) and February 2021 (Part 2). To evaluate the quality of each dance performance outcome measure, three steps were conducted (1) assessment of methodological quality using the COSMIN checklists, (2) evaluation of results against criteria of good measurement properties and (3) summary of the evidence and an overall rating of evidence using a modified Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach. Results: Fifteen dance performance quality outcome measures were identified (Step 1). Seventeen studies reported measurement property data for 14 of 15 identified outcome measures (Step 2). The majority of the 34 measurement property outcomes were rated as doubtful (COSMIN checklists), and demonstrated sufficient measurement properties. Only one outcome measure, the Radell Evaluation Scale for Dance Technique (RESDT), was assessed as having low and moderate quality evidence for validity and reliability respectively. The remaining 13 tools were rated as having very low-quality evidence (GRADE criteria). Conclusions: Due to low quality, the 15 dance performance quality tools cannot be confidently recommended for use at this time. Dance teachers, clinician and researchers should consider feasibility issues and use the tools with caution until adequate high-quality evidence is available.

Physiological Demands of Competitive Collegiate Dance.

Seifert Gonzales, AM and Stenson, MC. Physiological demands of competitive collegiate dance. J Strength Cond Res 38(9): e503-e509, 2024-Competitive collegiate dance combines elements of gymnastics and acrobatics with more traditional styles, such as ballet, jazz, and modern dance. Assessing the physiological demands and identifying clear measures of intensity and duration of such dance provide a framework for planning the competitive season and developing strength and conditioning programs. This study examined the blood lactate (BL), heart rate (HR), and ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) of 14 well-trained female dancers on a competitive collegiate dance team. Subjects completed a treadmill test to determine their lactate threshold (LT) and then performed a 120-second choreographed jazz dance routine in cumulative 30-second segments, during which physiological markers were measured. All subjects exceeded their individually determined LT values by 90 seconds into the dance routine. A moderate (rs = 0.53; p < 0.001) positive correlation was observed between HR and RPE, as was a strong (rs = 0.70; p < 0.001) positive correlation between BL and RPE. Subjects worked at or above LT for much of the 120-second jazz dance routine, indicating that competitive collegiate dance is physiologically demanding and highly anaerobic. Understanding the physiological demands of competitive collegiate dance allows strength and conditioning professionals to develop, monitor, and adjust training parameters, which will aid in minimizing injury and maximizing competitive performance in collegiate dancers.

The Viennese waltz: social transformation and the shock of the new

ABSTRACT The Viennese waltz was the first vernacular, modern dance. Modern, here, Carrie’s the meaning of modernity. Such dances have an expressive relationship with the body and this requires a specific discursive understanding of what a body is and how it can be experienced. That is, modern, vernacular dancing is a function of the modern body. The modern body evolved as part of the social transformation of society from a feudal order to one founded on capitalism and industrialisation. The modern body is understood, and experienced, as limited by the body’s physical form, distinct from its environment. The body is the site of the individual, and, at the same time, it is the expressive site of mental stimulation. Notoriously, René Descartes theorised this construction in terms of a distinction between the ‘mind’ and the ‘body’ in Meditationes de Prima Philosophia published in 1641. A problem for modern, bourgeois society then became, how to control the expressiveness of the body in dance. This problem of management pervades modernity and is central to this article. The Viennese Waltz was the first modern dance, the first manifestation of dance as individual expression and, consequently, the first time the problem of how to control expression presented itself, and what the consequences might be if the dancing body was not controlled.

Authenticities of K-pop Cover Dance Influencers in/from Bali, Indonesia

The rise of K-pop cover dancers worldwide reveals how artists creatively adapt and transform this genre to suit local priorities. This ethnographic analysis examines two K-pop cover dancer influencers in Bali to illuminate their curation of authenticities through local events and social media. One dancer generates a version of K-pop in Bali as a cosmopolitan, upper-class elite judge and modern dancer; the other exhibits the flow of K-pop from Bali to Seoul as a diasporic, queerish waacking dancer. This study foregrounds the disjunctive flow of glocalization as K-pop’s cultural capital extends beyond Korea for artistic, educational, and entrepreneurial benefits.

Researching Doris Humphrey’s Lost Work: Felipe “El Loco” (1954)

This article presents an overview of the process of researching, reimagining, and reconstructing Doris Humphrey’s Felipe “El Loco,” the missing work from her trilogy of Spanish repertoire. In 1954, Humphrey created Felipe “El Loco” for her protégé, José Limón, and his then-emerging company, and showcased it in that year’s American Dance Festival. Although the debut had an enthusiastic reception, the 1955 performances had mixed reviews, and the work was lost and forgotten, leaving no filmed, written, or notation recordings. In 2022, M. Gabriela Estrada undertook the project of restoring Felipe “El Loco” to bring awareness of its legacy as a unique example of interdisciplinary collaboration and multicultural repertoire connecting modern dance, ballet, and flamenco’s history. This restoration project has aimed to pay tribute to the dance pioneers represented in this choreographic project: Doris Humphrey, José Limón, Pauline Koner, and Félix Fernández, the flamenco dancer on whose legend this choreographic work is based.

A Historical Reflection on Modern Dancer Choe Seunghui’s Collaboration with Japanese Imperialism+

A Historical Reflection on Modern Dancer Choe Seunghui’s Collaboration with Japanese Imperialism+

THE USE OF DANCE IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF SCHOOLCHILDREN’S AESTHETIC TASTE IN OUT-OF-SCHOOL EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS: CREATIVE POSSIBILITIES OF CHOREOGRAPHIC ART

Choreographic art is an essential means of the comprehensive development of a child. Choreography classes contribute to the aesthetic education of children, positively affect their physical development, and contribute to the growth of their general culture, so choreographic art has a rich opportunity for the comprehensive implementation of educational tasks. However, the analysis of their own practical experience and observations at choreography lessons in out-of-school educational institutions revealed that students are primarily interested in modern dance styles among various dance types. In this regard, there is a problem of forming the schoolchildren's aesthetic taste by dance. The article examines the creative possibilities of choreographic art for forming aesthetic taste in schoolchildren in out-of-school educational institutions. Dance training will be more productive if children are encouraged to engage in holistic choreographic activities, during which schoolchildren will be more motivated to learn the elements of classical, folk, ballroom, and modern dance. To implement this condition, we propose to organize and hold dance festivals between students of specific age categories. This form of work will increase children's interest in choreography lessons. In addition, this form of work will stimulate children to more productive work, which will contribute to the improvement and aesthetic saturation of their movements, the accumulation of artistic and dance impressions, the comprehension of their choreographic capabilities, and the development of children's creativity.

Progressing ballet technique (PBT) as a method of a modern dancer development

Progressing ballet technique (PBT) as a method of a modern dancer development

Using Crisp-Set Qualitative Comparative to Determine the Cultural Hybridity of Modern Dance: Based on American Dance Festival Lifetime Achievement Award

Using Crisp-Set Qualitative Comparative to Determine the Cultural Hybridity of Modern Dance: Based on American Dance Festival Lifetime Achievement Award

Pendampingan Gerak Dasar Tari Tradisional Bagi Guru dalam Penguatan Karakter Pelajar Pancasila di Sekolah Dasar Ta’allumul Huda Bumiayu

Current developments greatly influence human behavior, especially elementary school children. In order for elementary school students to remain focused on positive rules, of course there needs to be good, directed and targeted provision with the aim that elementary school children can grow into students who obey the rules. Teachers provide knowledge of traditional arts to students so that students can know and preserve traditional arts culture, with the other aim of ensuring that traditional dances do not fade with the times amidst the current onslaught of modern dances. Of course, it is not an easy matter for teachers to carry out achievement targets in preserving traditional culture for students. The task of teachers and parents is clearly needed so that children do not fall into negative things, especially in the school environment. Looking at the aspect of the dance environment at Ta'allumul Huda Elementary School by strengthening the character of Pancasila students, it is necessary to provide provision, training and assistance to teachers, grades 4, 5 and 6, by providing traditional dance material and also assistance with basic traditional dance techniques. Central Java. The result of this service activity is that all class teachers can understand aspects of traditional dance by strengthening the character of Pancasila students, and teachers can learn the movements and names of basic Central Javanese traditional dance movements, and teachers can practice basic dance movements through Banyumasan dance.

Modern Dance “Body – Mind Teaching Method’’ Rooted in National Culture

As dance programs in higher ed works to de-center Euro centric styles, learning how dance in China draws upon Confucianism would be a valuable addition to the field. Philosophical perspective, this paper describes modern dance teaching that values the national symbolic experience of the dance body and constructs the national cultural thinking of the dance individual as an experiential practice of college arts education that focuses on the performance of students’ spiritual existence.

"Modern dance research based on collective memory - Take Hofesh Shechter's work 「Grand Finale」 as an example -"

"Modern dance research based on collective memory - Take Hofesh Shechter's work 「Grand Finale」 as an example -"

WARBA Dance Steps of Ganzourgou: Conflict Prevention and Resolution in Burkina Faso

In the Ganzourgou province, an ancestral ludomotor activity is practiced: the warba, a traditional dance on which the Moaga society has engraved its mechanisms of prevention and resolution of conflicts that often oppose its members. It is a dance that conveys through body gestures, deep messages whose objectives are, among others, the quest for social cohesion. To grasp the different articulations of this traditional dance of prevention and conflict regulation, a stay was made in Ganzourgou where a participatory observation was carried out on the intangible cultural heritage of this people. From the analysis of the results, it appears that the warba dance steps such as the Laadem-lacre or the Kar-valga implemented under the instrumental air during sacred or profane dance ceremonies, convey messages that consolidate social relations. However, the results also show that this reference social practice is under the influence of modern and African-inspired dances, thus leading to its gradual disappearance. To face this influence, research suggests the revitalization of this local knowledge of the Moose people of Ganzourgou, bearer of endogenous values of conflict regulation, and its inclusion in school curricula and in the practice of maintenance sport.

Artificial intelligence in dance education: Using immersive technologies for teaching dance skills

Artificial intelligence (AI) has led to a shift in modern dance education. Immersive technologies have become increasingly common worldwide, helping educators to improve the quality of dance pedagogy and increase the effectiveness of dance training. The article investigates the ways of using immersive technologies powered by artificial intelligence in dance education. The research explores the theoretical literature on dance education and the use of artificial intelligence in dance education and dance choreography. The scholars examine the impact of innovative technology solutions used in dance pedagogical practice on the development of dance skills in students. The study also discusses the functionality of interactive and multimedia dance teaching systems, including AI-powered virtual mentoring and cognitive simulations of human mind operations. The research analysed the use of virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR) in dance education. This research also focuses on mobile applications used for teaching modern dance. The proposed framework for dance education is based on digital technologies, which help to develop dance skills and improve teaching practices. The scholars conclude that the development and improvement of dance skills are possible only if a teacher combines virtual and real environments in everyday practices. The findings can be used by dance teachers, professional dancers, software developers, and researchers who examine the innovative practices and the application of artificial intelligence in dance education. The ecosystem model reframes thinking about approaches to dance education and can serve as the basis for further development of dance courses and dance style teaching modes.

Modeling of Knee Joint Protectors for Dance Sports Using Ferromagnetic Nanocomposites

Dance is a difficult sport, especially in modern dance and ballet, which requires dancers to complete many difficult movements and jumps. These movements place a significant load on the knee joint and have long been prone to causing knee joint damage. However, traditional dance knee protectors often have problems such as poor protection effect and discomfort due to their thickness. In order to improve the comfort and effectiveness of dance knee joint protectors, this article analyzed a high-performance ferroelectromagnetic nanocomposite material dance knee joint protector. In this paper, the preparation process and properties of ferromagnetic nanocomposites were analyzed in detail. The geometric modeling of the wrapped knee protector was established, and its mechanical properties were simulated using the finite element model. In this paper, the traditional dance knee protector and the ferromagnetic nanocomposite knee protector analyzed in this paper were tested several times respectively, and their performances in tensile strength, tensile modulus, compressive strength, compressive modulus, bending strength and flexural modulus were compared.