The definition of dance is "to move rhythmically using prescribed or improvised steps and gestures." Two very different forms of dance are ballet and modern dance. Many questions arise in relation to these two distinct forms. "Can you dance in a modern style without having classical ballet training?" "Can you dance in a classical ballet style without having modern dance training?" After posing these questions, people will often argue over which skill is required for what dance. Another controversial issue is what type of dance you should learn first to benefit to your highest degree of comprehension and skill level. .
The twentieth-century was introduced to a nontraditional style of classical ballet known as modern dance. This style of dance, created by Isadora Duncan, Loie Fuller, Ruth St. Denis, Ted Shawn, and Mary Wigmam, was a revolution in dance history. They opened schools, and then their students, such as Martha Graham, Doris Humphrey and Charles Weidman, expanded the world of modern dance to all parts of the world. Their style eliminated the Pointe from a ballerina's practice of dance. .
Imagine this scene: bare feet sweeping across the ground with spines curved at angles meant to shock and appall many traditionally trained ballerinas and their audiences. For those used to keeping their legs turned out from their thighs, fighting with all of their might to hold position, not being able to let one breath sputter out, and to keep their entire body long with perfect postural alignment, modern dance was truly revolutionary. .
The pioneers of modern dance did not agree that ballet should be so strict and have so many rules of how the body had to be at all times. They created a dance form that let the body curve from the spine, to take up as little space as possible, and to throw off the body's postural alignment. What was their reasoning to invent a new dance style? .
Ballet is a very strict and predetermined form of dance, while modern is a dance of improving a dancer's moves, while moving through space based on the freedom of nature.
