Communication Through Dance: A Deeper Look into the way Movement is Used to Communicate

In art, there are artists and there are audiences, which the former is trying to reach. Accomplishing this task is the artist’s role. For purposes of this paper, the artist is defined as the dance choreographer. Dance artists illustrate the complexities of communication through the medium of movement. They use processes that are grammatical or syntactical-like, yet they do not use words– rather, motion, shape, steps, and the like. Movement has a way of communicating ideas more than words at times, because the clearest of words are often too simple to establish a particular world or perspective. Choreographers realize this when they design works. Through comparative analysis, this paper will focus on three choreographers and how they used solo choreography to communicate with audiences on a deeper level. They respond to the trends of their day through dance using movement as the medium. The open interpretation modern dance leaves with its audiences will always give a freedom to those interpreting the dances. The choreographer may intend it to have a specific intent but an audience member may have a completely different reaction to the dance whether it is from personal experiences or just what their imagination comes up with. This is a perfectly acceptable reaction to the dance. Modern wanted to move away from the fixed interpretation and it did that in allowing audiences to have an emotional response to the pieces. Each choreographer solves the problem of how to accomplish communication differently. Modern and communication have a certain level of freedom within them. Words only mean what we make them to mean which is also true for dances and works of art. In art, as in life, showing will always be preferable to telling