Modern dance, a school of dance that emerged in the West at the beginning of the 20th century in opposition to classical ballet. Its main aesthetic point of view is to oppose the classical ballet's formalist tendency of sticking to the old ways, detaching from real life and purely pursuing techniques, and to advocate getting rid of the overly rigid movement programs of classical ballet, freely expressing people's true emotions with dance movements that conform to the laws of natural movement, emphasizing that the art of dance should reflect the life of modern society. (A Brief History of Western Ballet and Modern Dance, Xiamen University Publishing House, 2009.10)
Korean dance (mostly in the form of Korean singer's dance), jazz dance, street dance, MTV dance, etc., are generally not a modern dance, although it can be fused with the modern dance to produce a unique style, but even so, the entertainment tendency of the dance will not be a modern dance. At the same time, modern dance generally has its own creative motives, such as thinking about certain themes, exploring the concept of aesthetics, describing the storyline, and so on, generally will not become an accessory to a certain music or song.
Currently, some of the more famous modern dance companies in China include Cloud Gate Dance Theater (Taiwan), City Contemporary Dance Company (Hong Kong), Guangdong Modern Dance Company, Beijing Modern Dance Company, Shanghai Venus Dance Company, and Beijing Thunder World Contemporary Dance Company, etc. The Beijing Contemporary Ballet Company creates a number of modern ballet works with unique styles.
Classical works
Beijing Contemporary Dance Company ;Water Question, Three Shifts of Rain - Wish, JUE
City of Hong Kong Contemporary Dance Company Xiang ;Silver Rain
Hong Kong Unlocked Dance Plaza ;Love Breath
Hong Kong New Testament Dance Stream ;Citizen's Scent
Cloud Gate Dance Theatre ;Water and Moon, Walking Grass, Songs of the Wanderer
Paul Taylor Dance Company ;Halo, Troupe B, Funny Newspaper, Grass, Promenade, Black Tuesday, Promethean Fire
Jose Limon Dance Company ;Choreographed Dedication, Renegade, Moorish Pavane, That Moment
Martha Graham Contemporary Dance Company ;Stepping Into the Labyrinth