Page 148

AD ALTA

JOURNAL OF INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH

also layered its dynamics. A characteristic feature of jazz dance
is that the individual parts of the human body move not only
independently, but also in other directions, rhythms and
dynamics. The movement is based on different movement
centers (polycentrics), it is often performed simultaneously on
different rhythms, while the dancer's ability to isolate the
individual parts of the body in motion is essential.

The position

of the dancer's body in a jazz dance is upright, pulled obliquely
upwards with the weight on the front of the foot. The knees are
bent, the center of gravity is reduced, which is disrupted at the
moments of highlighting the vertical (jump, hop and others). The
individuality of the style within the group style is emphasized.

The movement material consists of, for example: bounces,
prance, pliés, brushes, isolations, leg extensions, leg swings, kick
ball change, basic jazz walk, samba walk, jumps, turns, chassé
and others.

3.2 Modern Dance

It is characterized by various styles of concert dance, the roots of
which are not in classical dance. Its origins date back to the turn
of the 19th and 20th centuries in America and Europe. It arose as
an opposition to the usual forms of academic dance and ballet.

Modern dance developed depending on the peculiarity of the
movement style of each artist, which depended on their physical
conditions, as well as on the theoretical and content starting
points that were the background of their work. Representatives
of modern dance created new movement systems, which they
subsequently codified. These movement systems served as
training techniques for the dancers, preparing them to be able to
interpret the choreographer's individual dance style.

The

creators tried to return the dance to expressiveness, the ability to
communicate emotional experiences in a current way, researched
the problems of the individual within society, but also within his
individuality, they also drew themes from literature, history, but
also other cultures (Asia, Africa and others). Their foundation
was the study of the possibilities of human body movement.

The most famous dance techniques that are taught to this day
include:

Martha Graham's technique – the basic principle is the
development of the principle of contraction and release, derived
from the concept of breathing. Graham emphasized these phases
for the needs of the theater, accentuating them mainly from a
dynamic point of view. Exhalation during contraction is a
significant dynamic action, initiated in the pelvic area, it forms
and controls the entire torso of the dancer, the muscles of the
whole torso are involved in the action, and subsequently also
muscles of all peripheries (it is realized as an elevation). Release
does not mean complete release or devitalization, it is the
redirection of energy from the center to the outside, which fills
the interior of the body with a new force (it is realized as a push).
Both phases of respiration are equally dynamically and
energetically activating. Body weight is concentrated and
controlled from the active center in the pelvis. Other specific
movements are the movement in a spiral (rotation of the body
around the vertical axis), characteristic for work in space is the
so-called shift of the weight – a significant shift of the body in
the horizontal direction. We also utilize this movement pattern
with regard to the action of the center – contraction/release – in
the third part of the lesson, namely traveling. Shift of the weight
provides the typical movement quality for this technique.

José Limón's technique – the basic concept is the metaphor "The
body as an orchestra". The human body is able to break down
the rhythm, determine the movement theme and develop it. Each

KUBICOVÁ, I. 1986.

Úvod do histórie moderného a džezového tanca. Bratislava:

Osvetový ústav, 1986. s. 22-24.

GIORDANO, G. 1992. Jazz Dance Class. Londýn: Dance Books Ltd., 1992. s. 19-26.

SORELL, W. 1967. The Dance through the ages

. Veľká Británia: Thames and

Hudson Ltd., 1967. s. 183.

KUBICOVÁ, I. 1986.

Úvod do histórie moderného a džezového tanca. Bratislava:

Osvetový ústav, 1986. s. 4-8.

KOVÁŘOVÁ, M. 2013. Technika José Limóna. Bratislava: Vysoká škola

múzických umení, 2013. s. 99, 100.

LETENAJOVÁ, O. 2010.

Tanečná technika Marthy Grahamovej: jej formovanie

a didaktika. Bratislava: Vysoká škola múzických umení, 2010. s. 17-27.

part of the body represents one musical instrument that can be
expressed independently, but the symphony of all creates a
symphony. He respects the rules of gravity, works with it, uses it
and explores the spectrum of possibilities of motion freed from
gravity all the way to motion that is completely subject to it. The
basic principles of the technique are: alignment – basic position
of the body understood as dynamic position, succession – i.e.
gradual path of movement through individual parts of the body,
opposition – the effort to create a feeling of length in the body,
potential and kinetic energy, fall – i.e. complete relaxation of
body muscles, return is realized in two ways: recovery/rebound,
suspension – peak phase of movement (transient state),
isolations – isolated movement of individual parts of the body,

weight – which we contextually use with gravity, it is a
determining element of quality.

3.3 Postmodern Dance

The change in the perception of modern dance occurs in the
40s/50s of the 20th century. It was energetically started by a
generation of young dancers and choreographers who radically
rejected the creative methods and techniques of modern dance.
The most important representatives of this period include
choreographer Merce Cunningham and composer John Cage.

M. Cunningham's effort was to free dance from the
psychologization and social commitment of its predecessors. He
tried to remove the symbolism or descriptiveness of dance.

pioneered the idea that dance is an independent art that does not
need the support of music or visual effects.

His dance

technique is very physically demanding. It is based on the equal
use of the possibilities of movement of the torso and limbs. The
work of the torso is characterized by the variability of the basic
movements of the back, which are: curves – bending of the back
in the sagittal (anteroposterior) plane. The three types we present
differ in the area that the arch begins – upper back, middle back,
lower back; tilt – bending of the back in a vertical plane; twist –
rotation of the spine around the axis. The characteristic features
of movement are very fast and unexpected changes: changes in
direction, pace, space, movement. The movement vocabulary of
his technique includes a whole range from pedestrian
movements on the one hand to technically demanding
movements (virtuoso movements) on the other. It does not
describe the feelings that the movement should evoke. He finds
the movement possibilities of the legs in different directions and
at different speeds or types of phrases, the body changes
simultaneously either with contrast to the legs or against. He
uses these principles on the ground, in the air (in jumps), as well
as together with changes in the direction of the torso.

3.4 Contemporary Dance

Representatives of the late 1960s, who wanted to push
innovation in dance even further, sought naturalism in
movement and were inspired by everyday movement. They
completely rejected any technical virtuosity. They experimented
with the form of dance and looked for new content and

KLOUBKOVÁ, I. 2008. Výuka moderního tance s

využitím principů techniky José

Limóna

. Brno: Janáčkova akademie múzických umění, 2008. s. 11-13.

KOVÁŘOVÁ, M. 2013. Technika José Limóna. Bratislava: Vysoká škola

múzických umení, 2013. s. 192 s.

He was an American composer of aleatory experimental music, writer and creator of

audiovisual art. He went through various artistic directions. At first he was convinced
that he wanted to be a writer, later he also devoted himself to fine arts and music. On
his travels in France, he dedicated his life mainly to music and composition. He also
worked as an accompanist in dance classes, where his close relationship with modern
dance was formed, in close connection to the personality of Merc Cunninghamhim. He
is the inventor of the prepared piano and the pentatonic scale. Well-known works
include, for example, Imaginary Landscape No. 4 for 12 Radio Receivers, Variations
I., 4'33 and others. In 1952, he organized the "first happening". The term "happenings"
refers to theatrical events that leave the traditional stage-spectator relationship and are
performed without a specified duration. Instead, they are open to chance. They are also
named this way because they take place in the present and try to halt the passage of
time. In October 1961, Wesleyan University Press published Silence, a collection of
Cage's lectures and writings that covered a wide range of topics.

CRAINE, D. 2002. The Oxford Dictionary of Dance. Oxford: Oxford University

Press, 2002. s. 120, 121.

ŽITŇANOVÁ, H. 1992. Dejiny tanca pre tanečný odbor základných umeleckých

škôl. Bratislava: SPN, 1992. s. 70.

HUSCHKA, S. 2000. Merce Cunningham und der Moderne Tanz. Würzburg:

Königshausen & Neumann, 2000. s. 279-285.

- 148 -