<p> Lecture for review for third test</p><p>Before the term modern dance was coined, it was called new dance and although our text refers to Ruth St. Denis as the First Lady of Modern Dance, many people attribute the first modern dancer to be Isadora Duncan. Loie Fuller relied on technical support of lighting and props like large scarves, whereas Isadora concentrated on the expression, interpretation and emotion of movement. Ballet had been mostly a European commodity and the people in America who danced ballet were either from European countries or the Americans who danced ballet emulated and trained in the European style. As in the plantations where the plantation owners copied European dances and manners with the minuet being the favorite social dance, the Puritans did not dance and even music was considered to be something that was only in the form of hymns or religious singing. Overall, dance was not as developed in America during this time, while in Europe, it had advanced to the development of the pointe shoe and a very technically advanced art form. </p><p>Before World War II required that America relied upon its own resources to develop art forms, it appears that America recognized the establishment of ballet,</p><p>-1-</p><p> but was more reserved about new dance. Audiences in Paris had already been shocked and outraged by Nijinkys choreography, which are now classics and so, with this in mind, it is the development of the appreciation of the art form by the audience that would explain why new dance was better received in Europe than in </p><p>America during the early 1920s. There was reception in America for both Isadora </p><p>Duncan and Loie Fuller, but it was a smaller audience than in Europe. </p><p>Denishawn was the highest paid company during the 1920s and brought to audiences a melding of ethnic dances and costumes from other lands and it was beautiful and entertaining and enjoyable. Although we now see this as the first generation of modern dancers, at the time, it was a fantastic and extravagant display. </p><p>Both of these situations might lend to the creation of more work as when artists are able to work and perform, they grow artistically. Out of the Denishawn company came Ted Shawn who made remarkable contributions to modern dance, </p><p>Martha Graham who developed the theory of contraction and release, and Doris </p><p>Humphrey who developed the theory of fall and recovery. Most subsequent major modern dance choreographers have all studied with Martha Graham. </p><p>-2-</p><p>One of the reasons modern dance has been recognized as an art form is because it is based in a theory of technique, just like the Cecchetti method of ballet that requires the repetition of certain exercises each day as well as learning new steps. Some people define modern dance as a period of time from the 1930s until the 1960s and then refer to similar dance as post modern dance or contemporary dance. New dance was simply dance that was not ballet, performed in bare feet without corsets and pointe shoes. The genesis for modern dance can be traced to this new approach to choreography with Densihawn providing the climate for new theories and techniques. </p><p>Martha Graham stated that it takes ten years to make a dancer before the studying of the technique becomes second nature to the dancer. Modern dance is a demanding technique based on scientific reasoning and the development of the choreographic techniques contribute to defining it as an art form. </p><p>-3-</p>