Post-modern dance is a large and multi-encompassing movement, as it defines not just a specific form of dance but also dance created during specific time period, in this case following the modern dance movements of the 1950s. Post-modern dance is a very self-conscious movement, meant to be aware of past movements and techniques used in dance and also to act in response to modern dance’s traditions, which were seen as too constricting and removed from the spirit of dance and art. Post-modern dance follows a type of minimalist aesthetic where the objective of the dance is to draw power and meaning from as little as possible instead of as much as possible. Dance in post-modernism is seen as more classical forms of art are today. Almost anything can be art, but not without context. Once the context is in place, the art is properly identified and analyzed as art. Post-modernists identified even simple movements like walking and running as possibly dance, but they only become truly dance when properly identified as such.
Steve Paxton was a proponent of the analytic post-modern dance movement; his primary contribution was the introduction of contact improvization. Contact improvization is a form of dance where dancers move with each other while always maintaing contact. This form of dance focuses on the varied interactions human bodies can have with each other while also interacting with the world around them. Due to the minimalist aspects of post-modern dance, however, these interactions take place not through props but through forces, and the dancers’ greatest tools here are their manipulation of gravity and inertia. Paxton’s contribution to post-modern dance is significant and illuminating, because his dance style both aligned with post-modern dance’s aesthetic ideas and forged new ground in how and what dance can exist.
-Milan Bien-Aime (Blog B)
