Dancing Girls

Soma.

In the beginning of the 20th century ballet ruled the world of dance.  But as the Western world embraced industrialism and modernity, so did artists.  Stifled by the strict technique, training, and codified movements of ballet, movers like Isadora Duncan and Ruth St. Denis turned to other cultures and movement traditions to create new movement forms, new dances, new ways of moving.  This new aesthetic was rooted in expressionism and for the first time considered how the movement felt in the dancers body.  The first choreographer to popularize this new type of movement in European concert dance was Margaret Morris.  More than that, Morris championed a new kind of dance technique and training that emphasized grounding and fluidity over virtuosity and her movement theory and dance pedagogy might be one of the earliest examples of somatic study as dance training.  The result of her perspective can be seen in the freedom of movement in her dancers bodies and the innovation of shape and form prevalent in her works.  The ideas that she pioneered are now considered de facto parts of most dance classes.  

To Watch the Margaret Morris Girls Dance Outside:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqTUnVnQrrM

To See the Margaret Morris Girls Performing:

http://www.britishpathe.com/video/margaret-morris-movement

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIDrI_A-MaM