By the late 1920s, Americans had become accustomed to the idea of “artistic” dance. Denishawn had crisscrossed the country many times as well as making itself newsworthy with its famous Orient tour. Moreover, Isadora Duncan, although reviled in her lifetime as a decadent Communist, inspired young women across the United States to seek self expression by putting on Greek tunics and dancing barefoot.
Ballet also attracted widespread interest as Anna Pavlova toured the United States, leaving in her wake scores of would-be ballerinas, including Agnes de Mille. Meanwhile, word filtered back from Europe that Russian impressario Serge Diaghilev was presenting dazzling new productions with charismatic dancers such as Vaslav Nijinsky.
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At a very deep level, all dance is an illusion. After all, none of the rest of us can dance on our toes or leap across a stage and land in a perfect position. Like athletes, skilled dancers are physically able to demonstrate to an audience the range of possibilities contained within our own human form.
When Loie Fuller twirled her long scarves and costumes while colored lights rippled over her, she wasn’t just introducing new movement ideas using emerging technology she was creating an illusion. Yet, Loie was not interested in demonstrating her athletic skills; she wanted to create something beautiful out of movement, fabric, and technology, which in her case meant a small electric dynamo projecting colored lights onto her costumes.
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Dance has existed from time immemorial. It has been an integral part of celebrations and rituals, a means of communication with gods and among humans, and a basic source of enjoyment and beauty.
Dance is a fundamental element of human behavior and has evolved over the years from primitive movement of the earliest civilizations to traditional ethnic or folk styles, to the classical ballet and modern dance genres popular today. The term dance is broad and, therefore, not limited to the genres noted above.
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