Avant-Garde Choreography

Abstract

The past fifteen years have witnessed the emergence of a new group of choreographers, who share the conviction that the proper subject of dance is dancing. They reject the idea that a story, or even content in the traditional sense, is necessary to a dance work. Instead, they assert the independence of dance as pure movement, refusing to make it a handmaiden of drama or music or spectacle. To do so, they have stripped their productions of many of the elements generally associated with this theatrical form. The consequences are an austerity, sparseness and concentration such as the art has not known heretofore. The new works have evoked a good deal of controversy, with reactions ranging from wild enthusiasm to indifference—accom panied by the shrugging comment that it can't last —to violent opposition, stirred by the fear that the new choreographers will turn the dancer of the future into a mere robot.