The Origins and Main Directions of Contemporary Dance

Once upon a time, the talented dancer Isadora Duncan (whom Russian culture knows better as one of Sergei Yesenin's passions) broke away from the traditions of dance schools and ventured to develop styles at the intersection of different directions.

True, one of the first such dances, contemporary, appeared only thirty years after the death of the woman who initiated its development.

So how did contemporary come to be?
The forerunner of contemporary was modern dance, which originated in Germany in the early twentieth century. Duncan also had a hand in its creation, as modernism was a step toward a new choreography that moved away from age-old traditions and met the demands of younger generations.

In a time when everything seemed already created, invented, and running like clockwork, dancers sought to bring something new to art—something that would cross out the precepts of the past.

The idea of the creators of the new style was to open new ways of self-expression through dance. This new creative direction was meant to give free rein to improvisation, feelings, and the dancer's own experiences.

Contemporary was no longer about technicality of movements and polished skills; it was about finding harmony with oneself and the world. Duncan shifted the focus in dance training: a person performing contemporary does not diligently teach their body the prescribed movements from manuals, but instead learns to interact with it.

In short, contemporary is designed to harmonize the relationship between one's inner world and the body in which it must be housed, and to create a special dialogue with the world through the language of dance.

The enticing freedom of creativity attracted dancers from around the world to this young movement (it has really existed for only a short time—since the 1960s in America, and it reached the USSR only in the 1980s), and their interest persists even now. However, as everywhere, absolute freedom cannot be found, because sport needs organization. Therefore, contemporary is usually divided into several different performance techniques.

All the techniques listed below are performed barefoot—a feature contemporary borrowed from martial arts. Speaking of borrowings, this dance is often compared to yoga, which is logical, because like yoga, contemporary strives for harmony. But let's return to the dance techniques.

The first technique is vertical dance. It involves performing contemporary while standing and using spaces of various sizes. It can be a fixed point with expressive movements in one spot, or it can be a sweep across the entire stage: runs, jumps, and virtually no boundaries.

In floorwork technique, there are more restrictions—contemporary is performed lying on the floor; according to the rules of the genre, you cannot stand up during performance, and, as the name suggests, the dance should be performed on the floor.

The third and perhaps most dynamic technique of contemporary is partner dance. Two creative "selves" merge on the same stage and strive to create a harmonious story in their dance. This is a case where dialogues often turn out to be much more interesting than solo performances.

Overall, contemporary steadily and with great success fulfills the vision of its founders, existing at the intersection of different styles, combining elements of dances that seem to contradict each other, so harmoniously and sensuously as if it were meant to be.

It is commonly believed that everything has a specific place, but the history of contemporary itself shows that if there is a desire, you can carve out a niche wherever you want. And create the way you want.