Modern, Contemporary, and Popular Genres

The twentieth and twenty-first centuries produced an explosion of new dance genres, especially in Western concert dance, as artists broke from established conventions to explore fresh movement, ideas, and forms. Understanding modern, postmodern, and contemporary dance, alongside the popular and commercial genres of screen and stage, rounds out a picture of the diverse landscape in which today's dancers work.

The birth of modern dance

Modern dance emerged in the early twentieth century as a revolt against the perceived artificiality and strict codification of classical ballet. Pioneers sought more natural, expressive, and personal movement rooted in the individual and in genuine emotion. Figures such as Isadora Duncan rejected ballet's constraints in favor of free, flowing movement, while l