Your First Steps into Contemporary Dance
A Beginner's Guide to Finding Flow and Expression from Day One
Contemporary dance is where emotion meets motion, where storytelling transcends words, and where anyone—yes, including you—can discover new ways to express their inner world through movement. If you've ever watched a contemporary performance and felt a stirring connection, that pull you feel is an invitation to begin your own journey.
What Exactly is Contemporary Dance?
Unlike the structured techniques of ballet or the vibrant patterns of salsa, contemporary dance is an evolving form that borrows from multiple disciplines while forging its own identity. It emerged in the mid-20th century as a rebellion against the rigid constraints of classical ballet, prioritizing emotional expression, freedom of movement, and innovative choreography.
At its core, contemporary dance is about:
- Authenticity: Movement that comes from a genuine place within
- Fluidity: Connecting movements seamlessly rather than hitting precise positions
- Storytelling: Communicating ideas, emotions, and narratives through the body
- Freedom: Breaking "rules" to find what feels right for your body and expression
Starting Your Practice: Essential First Steps
Find Your Why
Before you take your first plié, ask yourself what draws you to contemporary dance. Is it the emotional release? The physical challenge? The creative expression? Understanding your motivation will guide your practice and keep you inspired when things feel challenging.
Create a Safe Space
You don't need a professional studio to begin. Clear a space in your living room where you can move freely without bumping into furniture. Have a water bottle nearby and consider a yoga mat for floor work.
Start with Body Awareness
Contemporary dance begins with understanding your body. Spend time simply noticing how your body moves—how your weight shifts, how your spine curves, how your breath affects your movement.
Try this: Stand with feet hip-width apart, close your eyes, and take five deep breaths. Notice which parts of your body move with each inhalation and exhalation.
Learn the Basic Principles
While contemporary values individuality, some fundamental concepts will help you build a strong foundation:
- Contract and Release: Inspired by Martha Graham, this involves contracting your core muscles then releasing them to create dynamic movement
- Fall and Recovery: Based on Doris Humphrey's technique, exploring the balance between control and surrender
- Alignment: Maintaining healthy posture even during fluid movements
- Use of Breath: Coordinating movement with inhalation and exhalation
Your First Movement Sequence
Ready to move? Try this simple sequence that incorporates fundamental contemporary elements:
- Grounding: Stand with feet hip-width apart, knees slightly bent. Close your eyes and take three deep breaths, feeling your connection to the floor.
- Body Scan: Slowly roll down through your spine, one vertebra at a time, until you're hanging forward. Let your arms and head be heavy.
- Contract: On an inhalation, slowly roll up until you're standing. As you reach the top, gently contract your abdominal muscles, curving your spine slightly.
- Release: Exhale and release the contraction, returning to neutral standing.
- Reach and Fall: Inhale as you reach your right arm up and slightly across your body, allowing your weight to shift onto your left foot. Exhale as you "fall" into the reach, extending through your fingertips.
- Recover: Use your core muscles to return to center, then repeat on the other side.
Remember: There's no "perfect" way to execute this sequence. Focus on how the movements feel rather than how they look. The goal is connection, not perfection.
Finding Flow: Connecting Movement to Emotion
Technical skill will develop with practice, but contemporary dance truly comes alive when movement connects to emotion. Here's how to begin cultivating that connection from day one:
Use Music as Your Guide
Select music that evokes feeling in you—it doesn't need to be classical or traditionally "dancey." Notice how different songs inspire different qualities of movement: sharp versus smooth, heavy versus light, joyful versus contemplative.
Practice Improvisation
Set a timer for 3-5 minutes and move however the music tells you to. Don't plan steps ahead of time—just respond to the sounds and sensations. This might feel awkward at first, but it's the fastest way to discover your unique movement voice.
Explore Emotional States
Pick an emotion (joy, sadness, anger, peace) and explore how it might manifest in your body. Does joy make you want to jump and spin? Does sadness make your movements heavy and close to your body? There are no right answers—only what's true for you.
Embracing the Journey
Remember that every professional dancer was once a beginner. The wobbles, the moments of feeling uncoordinated, the uncertainty—these are all natural parts of the process. What makes a dancer isn't perfect technique but the courage to express something true through movement.
Your contemporary dance journey is uniquely yours. Some days will feel flowing and effortless; others will feel awkward and challenging. Both are valuable. Both are part of the dance.
Final thought: You don't need to wait until you've mastered certain skills to call yourself a dancer. If you move with intention and expression, you are dancing—today, right now, exactly as you are.
So take a deep breath, put on some music that moves you, and begin. Your dance is waiting to be discovered.
