CONTEMPORARY Dance
Contemporary Dance Introduction
Contemporary dance is a popular form of dance which developed during the middle portion of the twentieth century and has since grown to become one of the dominating performance genres for formally trained dancers throughout the world, and has become extremely popular in the U.S. and western Europe. It's origin comes from borrowing from styles many styles of dance, including ballet, jazz, lyrical, modern, and other concert dance styles.
In terms of the focus of its technique, contemporary dance utilizes both the strong and controlled legwork of ballet and modern dance's stress on the torso, and also employs contact-release, floor work, fall and recovery, and improvisation characteristic of modern dance. The unpredictable changes in rhythm, speed, and direction are also used, as well. It sometimes also incorporates elements of non-western dance cultures such as elements from African dance including bent knees, or movements from the Japanese contemporary dance