One of the most recent inventions in the world of dance is the modern dance. When modern dancing was first created, dancers were trying to break away from classical ballet styles and forms, and just express themselves through the music. Of course, this style of dancing was shunned at first. But eventually, once people realized that modern dancing was here to stay, the public accepted it.

Modern dance was first started in the early 20th century. The United States was one of the first places to invent this style of dance, probably because the U.S. has no classical ballet dancing roots. Experimental dance is more encouraged in the U.S., largely because there are no blocks of tradition to stand in the way. Many ballet school environments offer modern dancing classes. Germany also was interested in the modern dancing movement, and they created some modern dancing styles as well.

The main idea behind this modern dancing was that people should be allowed to express themselves. Whatever feeling was going on inside, should be allowed to show outside. Classical ballet dancers were shocked by this, because up to this point, dance was largely an interpretation of the music, rather than the individual. Modern dancers continually tried to express things that had never been expressed through dance before. Dancers tried to imitate such things as animals, weather, emotions, dances of other, and more obscure cultures. Buy the 1940s and 50s, this new style of dancing was accepted as a form of real dance, even though many people were still opposed to it.

Modern dance is now classified through things such as harsh body movements, contortions of the body that were never done in the past, and a more emotional dance experience. In the beginning, modern dances were used as a freedom from the forms of classical ballet, but now it has developed into its own structured style. There are four basic principles that modern dancing uses. These principles are: substance of movement, dynamism and impact, form of body, and metakinesis.

Some modern dancers that helped form this art style were Martha Graham, Isadora Duncan and Ruth St. Denis. Isadora Duncan and Ruth St. Denis used more flowing movements in their dances, while Martha Graham was the pioneer in the form of angular dance. More modern dances of today use Martha Graham's method, and it has become one of the hallmarks of modern dancing. Doris Humphrey was also a pioneer in modern dancing styles, but her dancing was purely aesthetic in nature. None of her dances were based on emotions or anything interpretive, she just wanted to move in a way that flowed with the music. All of these ladies were important to the evolution of modern dancing.

The best idea behind modern dance is that it is okay to express emotion while dancing, or to escape from the older, classical ballet style structures. Of course, over the years, modern dancing developed its own structures and rules. But still, the nature of the original dances, of freedom and expression, are still contained in the structure. Anyone who wants to be a dancer should consider taking at least a little bit of modern dancing through an alternative ballet class or ballet school.

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