avant-garde dance

Experimental dance form that rejects the conventions of classical ballet and modern dance. It is often performed in informal spaces – museums, rooftops, even scaling walls.

In the USA, avant-garde dance has been mainly represented by the work of Merce Cunningham, and by the performances held by artists at the Judson Memorial Church during the 1960s. While retaining technique and rhythm, Cunningham abolished narrative, explicit emotional statements, and any direct connection between dance and music. The Judson collective went further, denying even the necessity for technique and concentrating on the use of everyday movement. They also avoided any attempt at gender stereotyping. Recent developments in the 1980s and 1990s have incorporated some of these characteristics but have also seen a return to skilled movement, such as in the works of Trisha Brown and Mark Morris.