The Modern Dance Manifesto for Dummies: Preface

The next time you look into the mirror, just look at the way the ears rest next to the head; look at the way the hairline grows; think of all the little bones in your wrist. It is a miracle. And the dance is a celebration of that miracle.

Martha Graham 

Let's just start by saying that this book is not going to be like a modern painting: abstract and confusing. We know that you are just dipping your toes into the pool of dance and are probably way too scared to swim (sorry for the metaphor...get ready for a lot of those where modern dance is concerned!) Modern can seem unapproachable and elitist, but we are going to bring it down to a level that everyone can understand and maybe, by the end of these 153 pages, you will actually enjoy it!


Modern dance is more than just a style, it is a movement. It has been and will continue to be a way for the literal movers and shakers of the day to manifest the ever changing values and goals of society through art, the body, and the stage. Starting in the 20th century in America and continuing today, famous figures like Loie Fuller, Isadora Duncan Martha Graham,  Doris Humphrey, Agnes de Mille, Lester Horton, Merce Cunningham, Ruth St. Denis, Ted Shawn, Paul Taylor, Jose Limon, Alwin Nikolais, Alvin Ailey, Katherine Dunham, Pearl Primus, Twyla Tharp, Alwin Nikolais and so many more have broken dance out of the rigid shell that ballet created for it and molded it to their own interpretations, all influenced by the social, political, and economic climate of their day, as all great artists are.

In this book we will take you step by step on a journey through the 20th and 21st centuries with these modern dance pioneers and and their philosophies. We will, in part, show you what historical movements influenced them in their dance and use specific examples to help you to better understand where they got their impetus. 

Modern dance doesn't have to be scary. It may seem overwhelming and intellectual but to be honest all of these figures were just people who didn't like the way that they were forced to dance and wanted to do things their way. They were struggling with heavy issues of love, loss, illness, war, oppression and simpler every day things in their lives just like we all deal with. Their outlet for dealing with those things was dance, and we are going to help you learn from them. They left quite a legacy, and they would want nothing more than for all of you readers to follow in their footsteps.