modern dance
7
3.5
- noun
- /ˈmɒdərn dæns/
:
danza moderna
- Many people find modern dance to be a liberating art form that emphasizes self-expression.
- a modern dance class
- modern dance and ballet
So this person that went before me did modern dance to no music.
- So this person that went before me did modern dance to no music.
- Also out of the Group Theater, I studied modern dance with Hanya Holm and Alvin Nikolai.
Examples
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She enrolled in a course to learn modern dance techniques that focus on improvisation.
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In the first workshop, the teachers and students were introduced to what I consider a typical modern dance class geared for beginning students.
Academic text (2001) -
So this person that went before me did modern dance to no music.
-
Someone that maybe did modern dance in high school or something like that.
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Only the greatest modern dance company in the world.
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It's a modern dance piece.
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You have to be really focused for modern dance.
Fiction book (1999) -
Recently, I took a class in beginning modern dance technique.
Academic text (1997) -
Modern dance is much more interesting.
-
She'd been a professional dancer, actually, with a modern dance company in New York before she married Harold.
Fiction book (1990)
Synonyms
4
5.6
Dance movements that express emotions and tell a story
1
6.5
A dance that uses body movements to show feelings or tell a story
1
3.7
People dance on a stage in front of an audience as part of a show
A style of dance that uses movements to show feelings or tell a story
A style of modern dance that uses movements to show feelings or tell a story
A dance on stage with planned steps performed for an audience like ballet or modern dance
Antonyms
3
3.6
A traditional dance style with precise, formal movements performed to classical music
How Modern
7
3.5
3
3.6
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a contemporary style of dance' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'modern' (contemporary) with 'dance' (a form of movement), so a B1 learner who knows both words can infer the genre. This compositional pattern is common across languages and follows straightforward adjective + noun semantics rather than idiomatic shift.
Etymology
Modern dance began about 100 years ago when some dancers wanted a more natural, free kind of dance instead of the strict rules of ballet. They used everyday body movement and often made steps as they went, so today modern dance means a stage style that is 'expressive' and sometimes 'improvised'.