(Woman) So, why did what is now called "modern dance" begin in the United States? To begin to answer this question, I'll need to backtrack a little bit and talk about classical ballet.
By the late 1800's, ballet had lost a lot of its popularity. Most of the ballet dancers who performed in the United States were brought over from Europe. They performed using the rigid techniques that had been passed down through the centuries. Audiences and dancers in the United States were eager for their own, "contemporary" dance form. And, so, around 1900, dancers created one.
So, how was this "modern" dance so different from classical ballet? Well, most notably, it wasn't carefully
