By Elizabeth Stitt
Many audiences believe modern dance is about imitating an object, such as a tree. Many professors of modern dance agree that it is a form of personal expression.
?Modern dance is not sizzling bacon and it?s not being a tree,? said Pat Debenham, dance professor. ?Those are myths. People think that because it?s like anything new?we don?t have a reference for it.?
In the early 20th century, modern dance originated from ballet dancers who wanted to put more expression into their dancing. Instead of just modifying ballet, they formed a whole new style of dance that was spontaneous and subject to personal interpretation.
Debenham has been a modern dance performer and professor for more than 35 years. He said although modern dance had its roots in rebellion against ballet, he doesn?t feel that premise is true today.
?The style is continually evolving because everybody and every era expresses themselves differently physically,? he said. ?If you look at modern dance from the 1940s it?s very different from modern dance you look at today.?
Debenham said because modern dance is always changing, it?s hard to pin down specific characteristics to identify modern dance.
?What you see as modern dance from one choreographer or dance company will be very different from what you see from another choreographer or dance company,? he said.
But, a few things hold through most modern dance styles. Debenham said the dance is usually barefoot. The dancers also use their torsos more than in other dance forms.
?Whereas ballet values uprightness, modern dance values 3-D space and the use of the torso in varied ways,? Debenham said.
Modern dance is more grounded, he said.
?Modern dance values a connection to the earth and that is manifest in a lot of different ways,? he said. ?In ballet, they are trying to defy gravity, but modern dance tries to work with gravity.?
Although modern dance does not have a story line, Debenham said people should appreciate it without having to ask what?s behind the movement.
?Why is it we can?t just look at the movement and see it for itself instead of asking the meaning behind it?? he said. ?We don?t ask the meaning behind a football game.?
Modern dance does not have a clear structure like other dance forms do. It is more a reflection on the world and its chaos. This is shown in what seems like random movements of modern dance.
?There is order in God?s system,? Debenham said. ?But all the trees still don?t look alike. So why do we ask all the dancers to look the same??