Analytic post-modern dance strayed from the modern movement of the mid-twentieth century and instead brought the audience a type of dance that was void of two major modern dance characteristics: musicality and rhythmic organization. Not only that, but analytic post-modern dance tended to leave out dramatic phrasing, contrast, and resolution. The new wave post-modern dancers/choreographers were more interested in minimalistic ideals and images that showed the actual movement of the dancers; they were interested in the sense that the dance “is what it is”. Dance, to them, didn’t have to be structured or flamboyant, instead, dance could have a cool, down-to-earth attitude that can still convey powerful messages.
Twyla Tharp transcended the image of post-modern dancers by returning to a more structured choreography, making way for the contemporary dance genre of today. She stripped dance into the core value of dance instead: movement. Twyla Tharp did away with any sound accompaniment that might distract the viewer’s attention from the dance itself. She also took dance outside the theater, staging it in such spaces as the staircase of the Metropolitan Museum of New York City and New York’s Central Park (ask.com). In doing so, Twyla Tharp, along with other post-modern choreographers of her time, broke away from the modern dance movement and created something she believed was necessary for a broader dance appreciation.
Analytic post-modern dance can be thought of as a form of dance purely for the sake of expressing raw, unrefined movement. Costumes, lighting, and props are no longer used for aesthetic purposes, but for functional ones. It strips dance to its basic elements, breaking down “boundaries between art forms and between art and life, and new relationships between artist and audience” (Banes xv). Merce Cunningham broke away from classical modern dance by using chance, separating the elements of décor and music from the dance itself. In post-modern dance, the body became the subject of the performance, rather than serving as a medium of expression. Post-modern dancers were comfortable exploring and moving their bodies in the most instinctual and natural ways, weaving, loosening, and releasing power through their limbs. It can also be thought of as moving the body in an “almost scientific way”, for post-modern artists incorporated “repetition and reversal, mathematical systems, geometrical systems, geometric forms, and comparison and contrast” in their pieces (Banes xx). Put simply, post-modern dance is all about pure, simple movement.
Steve Paxton’s contact improvisation utilizes all of the elements of post-modern dance. This form of dance involves two or more people using each other’s bodies to create a piece of art. They move off of each other, completely unabashed and unknowing of what the other is going to do next. There are no fancy costumes, elaborate set designs, or intense music, just pure, raw movement. There is no structure or rigidity to this dance; dancers simply move their bodies in ways that feel natural to them and to each other, using each other’s bodies to flow and move in whatever direction it takes them.