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Modern dance is a dance form developed in the early 20th century. Although the term modern dances has also been applied to
a category of 20th century ballroom dances, modern dance as a term usually refers to 20th century concert dance.
In the early 1900s, a few dancers in Europe started to rebel against the rigid constraints of classical ballet. Shedding
classical ballet technique, costume and shoes these early modern dance pioneers practiced free dance.
In America Loie Fuller, Isadora Duncan, Ruth St. Denis, Alvin Ailey and Martha Graham and especially Doris Humphrey developed
their own styles of free dance and laid the foundations of American modern dance with their choreography and teaching.
In Europe Mary Wigman, Rudolf Laban, Émile Jaques-Dalcroze, and Francois Delsarte developed theories of human movement
and methods of instruction that led to the development of European modern dance and expressionist dance.
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