Hubbard_Teacher_Guide_-_FINAL

ALVIN AILEY(1931 – 1989)Showcasing his versatility of style, AlvinAiley choreographed for Broadwayin addition to his work in both balletand modern dance, the last two ofwhich he tried to find a middle groundbetween. Since, at the time there wasno modern dance repertory company,he instituted a revival program withinhis company to showcase the roots ofmodern dance.MERCE CUNNINGHAM(1919 – 2009)As one of the first to challenge thefounding principles of modern dance,Merce Cunningham initially worked withthe Martha Graham dance company, onlythe second male to do so. He formed hisown company after leaving Graham andincreasingly used an approach which focusedon pure movement without a story,character, or dramatic mood. He alsofrequently used chance determination, inwhich parts of choreography would bedetermined by random methods, such asa coin toss.TWYLA THARP(1941 – )The choreography of Twyla Tharp hashad strong, rhythmical use of the lowerhalfof the body, while the upper-halfpossesses a throwaway and ramblinglook. She is classicist in structure, yether dance utilizes the body language ofa graceful athlete. Tharp has choreographedfor numerous styles of musicranging from jazz to popular to classical.Twyla Tharp leads a UMS Lecture Demonstration in April 2002.34 UMS 09-10