Making Modern Dance Training a Priority
Rarely do my faculty or I see an audition solo for entry into college that is modern-based, despite the emphasis on modern dance training in undergraduate BFA/BA curriculums. Like many of the students we see in auditions, Abby Silva, now a senior dancer for Parsons Dance, took the usual path to a career as a professional dancer: from studio, to college dance program, to the stage. Abby’s audition solo clearly demonstrated a lack of modern dance training. It was apparent she had come from the competition world. The same can be said for Marlena Wolfe, now a dancer with Battleworks Dance Company, when she auditioned. There wasn’t an ounce of modern in her; she was a competition girl all the way. Trained exclusively in ballet, Sevin Ceviker also lacked any modern training; she is now a member of the Martha Graham Dance Company. This scenario repeats for any number of students who come to mind and plays out in colleges and universities across the country.
When asking prospective students what we will see in their audition solo, they say they are going to perform a ballet, jazz or so-called lyrical piece. Sometimes you hear the word contemporary. More often than not, it is the lyrical. As the Chair of the Dance Department at Marymount Manhattan College, I believe it is important to ask why modern is so seldom seen, or at least as we define it in the academy and conservatory setting.
Some part of the answer lies in the expectations of dance studio owners in relation to where they expect to send their students, in which part of the industry they seek to be hired or if employment in the dance field is even an aspiration. Many of the benefits of a dance education have nothing to do with becoming a professional dancer. But if careers in dance are at all on the horizon, we have the means and influence as educators to create a smoother transition, one that prepares students well in advance of entering an undergraduate dance program.
If the answer is Broadway or commercial work, one might argue oneself out of a modern curriculum, but I would argue otherwise. I would argue that even those who pursue ballet as a profession should not forgo the discipline of being trained in modern techniques. Ideally, I believe modern should be in every dance curriculum no matter the final goal. Furthermore, it should be offered at all levels of training, despite the difficulty in translating some of the complex principles at a beginning level for children.
With so many more excellent BFA/BA dance programs available now than there were even 20 years ago, more dance students than ever have access and want to attend them. All these programs include modern techniques in their curriculum, meaning the student cannot avoid them. And if concert dance is anywhere in a student’s future, modern dance training is simply a must.
Yet, incoming students rarely place out of our beginning level of modern training. In speaking to faculty at other institutions about the audition process, I find the same. Carol Walker, who just recently stepped down as Dean of the Conservatory of Dance at Purchase College and who has over forty years of auditioning students under her belt writes, “It is rewarding and exciting that in the past two decades the number of qualified dancers attending auditions for the Conservatory of Dance at Purchase College, for majors in ballet and modern, has increased mightily.” This confirms that numbers are up. Carol continues by noting, “The presentation of the audition solos ranges from the well trained, well coached and artistically presented to the young dancer teaching him or herself from a video. In addition to the classical and contemporary ballet category, we always get some jazz and ‘lyrical’ solos. When the rare, well trained, well coached modern dance solo is presented, it is a real treat. These solos are usually performed by students from a high school with a terrific dance program or, occasionally, from a good summer program. Across the country, modern dance is not nearly as embraced nor understood as an art form as is ballet in the pre-college, pre-professional levels of training.”
It is remarkable when we do see the exposure to modern dance in a solo, as the quality and depth of movement along with an understanding of the body in space is heightened, particularly when the training has been good. Weight and its transference through parts of the body is understood to be a tool. The floor becomes a friend instead of an enemy. A well executed contraction has a profound impact on truly finding ones core. Parallel runs and leaps lead to a whole new meaning of what it means to travel, and affectations of emotional gesture are wiped clean as the body finds movement itself to be the motivation. The principles of contraction and release, fall and recovery, suspension and breath, and the use of percussive movement serve to enhance a dancer’s physical vocabulary. All of these discoveries are directly transferable to other techniques. This holds true whether the work be a classical or contemporary ballet, jazz, or modern piece. And yes, it has impact on the lyrical.
True to Carol Walker’s statement, it is my experience that exposure to these principles appears to be seen mostly from those students who have attended a performing arts/magnet high school. Of course, there are the exceptions to this statement, and certainly many studio owners believe that modern dance should be offered. I would offer that we just aren’t seeing enough of it. Again, why?
Another part of the answer can be found in the opportunities afforded dance studio owners in terms of performance outlets and connections to the outside world. Quickly glance at any of the myriad conventions being offered today and ask how many offer modern technique classes or even ballet for that matter. Sadly, it is next to none. Back by popular demand we have the lyrical that has no context outside of the competition world. It is an insular, but popular place to be.
So, how does one go about bucking the tide? These conventions are businesses like any other and are satisfying an enormous gap in performance opportunities for studio owners and their students. I get that. This is important. However, particularly because these conventions have such influence on training, it is incumbent upon us to send messages to students that we consider modern dance training to be important too! Teachers for these conventions are hired from all over; it would be nothing to include modern dance teachers. Studio owners should have access to workshops to further their knowledge and forge alliances with modern teachers.
We should recognize the importance of being exposed to modern dance training at all levels. Like jazz, modern dance is touted as an American idiom with pioneers like Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn, Doris Humphrey, Hanya Holm, Nikolais/Louis, Martha Graham, and Lester Horton. So many marvelous dancers who come from any one of these backgrounds have gone on to create, teach, expose and develop new ideas. Jose Limon, Paul Taylor, Merce Cunningham, Twyla Tharp, Alvin Ailey, Trisha Brown, are but a few and that leaves out the entire next generation of dance makers who worked for or continue to work with these people. This fertile lexicon teems with richness hard to dismiss. Movement invention through the lens of modern dance continues to find new places to go.
Most students come to Marymount Manhattan College thinking they want to be on Broadway or in a ballet company; many students leave wanting to be a modern dancer. This shift of thinking merely comes through exposure – simply, they never studied modern before entering college. So, how do we build a modern dance curriculum in a studio setting? It may be a bit harder than we might like to admit.
It is no wonder that you find more modern classes on the two coasts; this is where much of the modern dance world resides. Some studio owners are within proximity of a large metropolis and/or a college/university with faculty members who teach modern dance. This affords the ability to offer modern dance classes, providing we believe in offering a modern curriculum. In a web-search of 35 dance studios, 25 offered no modern classes. Some of those 25 were within commuting distance of a larger city. Can we assume that modern dance is not a primary focus for these schools? Certainly the lyrical and combo classes are. Of the ten studios who did offer modern, four of them were within close proximity to New York City; two of the ten were exclusively modern dance schools in Portland, Oregon. So it is not just a matter of proximity, but also of interest and curiosity. And this is where we fall short.
Outside of this small search and within commuting distance from New York City are two good examples of schools offering modern dance: The Steffi Nossen School in Westchester, New York and the New Jersey Dance Theatre Ensemble. The Steffi Nossen School is unusual in its perspective toward teaching modern dance, offering a unified curriculum that begins with a children’s program at 4 years of age. Faculty collaboration is key to insuring that students in Modern I, II, III in all satellite locations are learning the same vocabulary and principles. The Artistic Director from 1989-2007, Nancy Lushington, explains, “The curriculum is evaluated yearly to assess the inadequacies in training to be addressed in the upcoming year’s curriculum. Students at the upper levels are then directed into “specialized studies” where they take modern classes in specific techniques i.e. Limon, Graham, O’Donnell.”
The Steffi Nossen model has endured for over 70 years. In fact, for much of its history, the school was exclusively a modern dance school. Carla Maxwell, Artistic Director of the Limon Dance Company and Susannah Newman, Associate Professor Emeritus and former Graduate Program Director of SUNY Brockport, were students at the school. As with many dance programs, Steffi Nossen recognized the need to diversify its training and today includes ballet, tap, jazz, theater dance and hip-hop. Diversity is a key word here as it becomes ever more critical; even the ballet dancer is not exempt.
That is what Nancy Turano, Artistic Director of the New Jersey Dance Theatre Ensemble discovered in evaluating her curriculum. Although she had been offering modern classes for 13 years, it wasn’t until six years ago that she insisted her students study modern dance. “I received much resistance and still often do from students and parents who are unaware of the needs in both ballet and modern companies today. I remember a discussion with a student and parent who insisted modern training was not needed as the student’s path was classical ballet. I told them to look at the list of choreographers who have worked with ABT, which included Lubovitch, Taylor, Morris, Tharp and so many more.”
Turano believes that dance is constantly evolving and that we must stay current in our thinking. She couldn’t be more correct. Our training must supply the dancers with the tools needed to achieve what the industry demands. Modern dance training is one of those demands. “Our dancers,” Turano says, “have been successful at getting into the top universities and companies, and I truly believe it is because they have been given a strong, diversified training! I want my dancers to have the edge over others and be prepared for what they should expect in the future. We have had tremendous success with our dancers, and we are helping them achieve their goal as professionals.” As the recipient of several of Turano’s graduating students, I concur.
When we cannot take advantage of New York City or any other hub within commuting distance, retaining modern dance teachers is not as easy as it is for Nancy Turano. "I would love to offer modern training in my studio,” laments Tracy Solomon, Director of the Dothan School of Dance in Alabama, “however, there aren’t any qualified modern teachers in our area. I think it is very important for students to have modern training in today’s world." Abby, originally from Louisiana, had a similar experience. “I arrived at Marymount Manhattan College with a rather vague idea of modern dance. The reason simply is that it was not available. We traveled many weekends to study at conventions and to compete. While this was a benefit for performance experience, the training was only ballet, jazz, lyrical, and tap. I spent one year at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts where I was introduced to a few basic concepts, contraction and release for example. However, there was no specific technique. It wasn't until I entered college that I realized the world of modern dance and concert dance existed.”
If Abby, Marlena and Sevin can make the grade, you might ask why what I offer in this dialogue is relevant. Approximately one in four students is accepted to Marymount Manhattan College, which is similar to other institutions. What I have not spoken about are those who are not accepted. As with many students, Abby, Marlena, and Sevin showed talent over and above the training they had received. Also, their training was good. We saw through the lyricals of Abby and Marlena and the “all” ballet from Sevin. There are many others like these young women. But sometimes we can’t see past the lyrical or ballet – the ability to make contact with the floor, the overt gesturing that hovers above the movement, and the “trick” filled solo that is not done so terribly well because a lack of core is pushing against good intentions. The deeply rooted concepts of modern dance training might have helped these students.
Earlier, I mentioned the conventions because this is where classes are taught and the guest artists prevail. We also need to address the competitions, despite being strictly performance oriented. We miss an opportunity within both these outlets to educate and shape the minds of future dancers. These outlets provide places to exchange ideas, expand horizons and educate students, faculty, and studio owners. The strictly balletic training needs to adapt as well. It is imperative to shift paradigms so that students arriving on the doorsteps of their undergraduate dance program don’t spend their entire first year grappling with the idea that modern dance classes are not for them. Time and again we see that everything begins to fall into place in all parts of their dance once their thinking shifts.
The lack of modern dance in studio settings presents an opportunity for teachers to take a stand and to differentiate themselves in areas that are teeming with dance studios. Call your local college and ask for faculty. Even more, hundreds of students are graduating from stellar undergraduate dance programs with four years of modern training or more. Many of them want to teach. Many of them are good. It is there. Let’s make a smoother transition. As Abby recalls “My first intention in coming to New York was to be on Broadway – I thought it was my only option. In time, my eyes were opened and my horizons were broadened, and it is lucky for all of us, 'cause I really can't sing!”
Katie Langan is a Professor of Dance amd Chair of the Dance Department Marymount Manhattan College