Modern dance was an early 20th century dance form that emerged as expression of rebellion against classical ballet. Pioneering dancers of this period include Isadora Duncan, who thought ballet was ugly and meaningless gymnastics and Martha Graham, who saw it was European, Imperialistic, and un-American.
Isadora Duncan was a predecessor of modern dance and she virtually single-handedly restored dance’s rank among the arts with her free-flowing costumes, bare feet, loose hair, and using the torso as the catalyst for other movements. Born in San Francisco in 1877, she traveled and performed throughout Europe. She was a thinker and a poet who incorporated humor into her expression. Contributions she made are “natural movements inspired by classical Greek arts, folk dances, social dances, nature, natural forces, and new American athleticism such as skipping, running, jumping, leaping, and tossing.
Martha Graham is often regarded as the founding mother of modern performance (or concert) dance. She became a student at the Denishawn school in 1916 and then moved to New York City in 1923, where she performed in musical comedies, music halls, and worked on her own choreography. Graham developed her own dance technique that hinged on concepts of contraction and release. Her principle contributions to dance are the focus of the ‘center’ of the body, coordination between breathing and movement, and a dancer’s relationship with the floor.
Maybe I should go and live in Amsterdam
in a side street near a big canal
spend my evenings in the Van Gogh Museum
what a dream, Van Gogh Museum
Maybe its time to see Tangiers
a different life-style, some different fears
and maybe I should be in Edinburgh
in a kilt in Edinburgh
Doin' a modern dance
doin' a modern dance
Or maybe I should get a farm in southern France
where the winds are wispy and the villagers dance
and you and I we'd sleep beneath a moon
moon in June and sleep till noon
And maybe you and I could fall in love
regain the spirit that we once had
you'd let me hold you and touch the night
that shines so bright, so bright with fright
Doin' a modern dance
doin' a modern dance
Shit, maybe I could go to Yucatan
where women are women, a man's a man
ah, no one confused, ever loses place
with their place in the human race
Maybe I'm not cut out for city life
the smell of exhaust, the smell of strife
and maybe you don't wanna be a wife
it's not a life being a wife
Doin' a modern dance
doin' a modern dance
So maybe I should go to Tanganyika
where the rivers run, down mountains tall and steep
or go to India to study chants
and lose romance to a mantra's dance
I need a guru, I need some law
explain to me the things we saw
why it always comes to this
it's all downhill after the first kiss
Maybe I should move to Rotterdam
maybe move to Amsterdam
I should move to Ireland, Italy, Spain
Afghanistan where there is no rain
Or maybe I should just learn a modern dance
where roles are shifting the modern dance
you never touch you don't know who you're with
this week, this month, this time of year
this week, this month, this time of year
Doin' a modern dance
you don't know who you're with modern dance
I should move to Pakistan, go to Afghanistan
Dance, you don't know who you're with
dance, you don't know who you're with
modern dance
And maybe you don't wanna be a wife
it's not life being a wife
doin' a modern dance
you never touch you don't know who you're with
Dance, modern dance
the roles are shifting dance
you never touch you don't know who you're with
Dance, modern dance
maybe you don't wanna be a wife
it's not a life being a wife