Cunningham’s Approach to Choreography
Each dancer tries to bring novelties into the dancing art by incorporating their unique vision, style, and emotions, reflecting on their backgrounds and historical events. For example, Merce Cunningham – an American choreographer of the twentieth century – introduced a new phenomenon of chance operations in dance. The previous generations of dancers emphasized the importance of structured and narrative-driven approaches.
Still, Cunningham preferred to distance his style from them partially as he created non-linear and abstract performances. In the dance “Crises,” he preferred the freedom of each dancer but in the limits of the structure, meaning each performer could choose their style while permanently connecting to others using elastic bands. This dancer decides to differentiate his narration style, playing on the movements of his performers.
Nikolais’ View on Dance
Meanwhile, Alwin Nikolais vividly incorporates external elements, such as light and visual projections, which do not remind of older dancing with traditional music and setting elements. His “Tensile Movements” show is famous for creating otherworldly experiences where the boundaries between dance and visual art vanish due to untraditional sounds and the use of mylar curtains and giant plastic bubbles. The audience becomes mesmerized by the dancers and the visual aesthetic of their movements with additional objects and a sense of weightlessness.
Halprin’s Perception of Dancing
Halprin, in contrast, viewed dancing as a chance for healing, while each movement reflected her tight connection with her environment and human nature. Unlike her colleagues, she stressed the importance of evoking some intense feelings in dancing, not just free-styling but even expressing patterned movements through the feelings. Once a dancer goes deeper into his breathing center and starts feeling every move, his style becomes impressive, resembling the body and mind’s feedback to emotions.
For example, her “Parades and Changes” performance has been banned in the United States due to naked scenes, but this nudity emphasizes the artist’s openness to nature. Introducing paper costumes and daily objects has been Halprin’s way of connecting to the environment. Therefore, each artist stands out among generations by redefining dance and pushing its boundaries through different means: narration, multimedia effects, and feelings.