Contemporary?

Matthew Neff | Dec 07, 2007 | there are 4 comments

Image Courtesy of Katie Steward (http://ksteward.deviantart.com)

I am sure you hear the term being thrown all over the place these days. Contemporary this and contemporary that. Where did it come from and why is it the new fad genre? Are you really taking a contemporary class? Is the choreography really contemporary? Well here are my two cents on where the term came from and why it's the wrong term for most of what we see these days.

In the ever changing world of dance there has been periods of time that have been given broad genre names. Ballet is always going through different phases. The emphasis of classifying ballet is rarely linked to a time period but more to the choreographer that was setting the work. There was Petipa, Balanchine, Tudor, and now Wheeldon all attracting attention for their work. They never were given a new name for what they were doing. They didn't make up a name. It's ballet. Modern choreographers worked from a more organic place. They were taking steps away from the ballet world but creating movement that had a view. They all began exploring movement as special and in relationship to the body and enviroment. Then came Judson Dance Theater. They pushed outside of the constraints of Modern Dance and began exploring more a pedestrian approach to dance. This is said to be where postmodernism was born. Did Judson Church Theater make flyers celebrating they were postmodern? No. Did they embrace that they were making a new genre of dance? No they were too busy walking down the sides of buildings to really care about copyrighting "postmodern" as their property. This leads me to the question I hear all the time: "Hey Matthew, "What is Contemporary dance? Contemporary Jazz?" I answer, "The new fad name that is way over used." Real contemporary movement is not an American idea. Contemporary started in Europe with a bunch of peeps merging modern and postmodern ideas together. They all had amazing ballet technique so the result was a more polished quirky style of movement. Most classes that are labeled "Contemporary" in NYC and around the country are not Contemporary. If anything it's postcontemporism. I made up a word. Like most British imports (The Office, Ab Fab, David Beckham), Americans tend to take way too much credit for discovering a new fad. Then we water it down until it's so diluted that the original appeal of it is lost. Let's all put the cards on the table. Contemporary is NOT Lyrical. Contemporary is NOT rolling around on the floor like human mops. Contemporary is NOT some kid that took Mia Michael's class once and is trying to be her. Contemporary is NOT the stuff you see on SYTYCD. Contemporary is NOT a battement with a flexed foot. Contemporary is more intellectual and more physical than what our teachers experienced. It's knowledge of the past merging together. Great contemporary work is just a development of past choreographers work. Did Alvin Ailey set out to make Revelations to change the face of a generation? No. He took lots of classes. He interacted with fresh thinkers and found his own view point. He made a dance. He made a hit. He was embraced for his creativity. Too many people today are giving themselves status with the "Contemporary" label. You can't create a following for your work if you are too worried about being hip and trendy. Jazz dance should just be referred to as jazz dance. I have been teaching at studios where I say it's modern jazz. It then gets the contemporary jazz label. I go along with it because, honestly, saying modern jazz is not going to fill a class. People want to feel like they are getting the hip trendy new thing. It happened with Hip Hop too when it first burst on to the scene. Now you have every kind of strange Hip Hop sub-genre label that never really explains what you are getting yourself into. Hip Hop Funk? Isn't "funky" a bad adjective? It reminds me of nasty laundry that hasn't been washed in weeks. Competition kids: for the most part you are all doing a jazz or lyrical dance. There is a maturity that comes with knowing your proper dance history. Doing a "Contemporary Solo" at age 12 just means that you got taken for some extra fee money to be in a category. Most of the time when I judge competitions I get into disagreements with the other judges. I say it should just be in the OPEN catagory because a lyrical number with a few tumbling tricks doesn't really mean it's cutting edge or innovative. (Now I sound like a judge on Project Runway) To earn their places as great innovators of a style of movement, Modern, Postmodern, and Contemporary choreographers explored and worked. They didn't sit down around a round table and decide they were defining a new style. Choreographers and teachers today need to take a step back and really look at what is going on. My advice is to stop copying other people's view points and steps. Your mom might love it but the rest of us know that you are just copying someone else. So my question to you is: "Contemporary? Is it really?"