by Ms. Jessica Heins, Co-Artistic Director, SDSD
January 27, 2025
Last spring, leading up to our annual dance recital here at Stage Door School of Dance (aka #BestShowEver), I witnessed a transformative moment that captures the essence of dance education. After running three consecutive pieces during our recital dress rehearsal, one of my SDSD Elite Company students rushed right over to me, eyes bright with understanding. “Ms. Jessica,” she exclaimed, “now I understand why we need all three styles – each one lets me tell a different part of my story!” This insight perfectly illustrates why we’ve designed our curriculum at Stage Door School of Dance to embrace Modern, Lyrical, and Contemporary as distinct artistic pathways.
As we guide dancers of all ages, one question frequently emerges: “What makes these styles different?” While they may share common elements, each style has its own unique heritage, technical foundation, and expressive purpose.
Modern dance emerged as a revolutionary art form in the early 20th century, driven by a desire to break away from classical ballet’s formal traditions. Early pioneers like Martha Graham introduced groundbreaking techniques like contract-release in 1926, fundamentally changing how dancers approached movement. Doris Humphrey’s fall-recovery theory, developed around 1928, encouraged dancers to explore and yield to gravity rather than resist it. In our Modern classes, students learn to harness these foundational principles, often working in parallel positions and connecting to the floor with deliberate, weighted movements. Picture a wave meeting the shore – powerful, grounded, and intentional.
Lyrical dance holds a special place in my teaching journey. This expressive style developed more organically as a blend of ballet, jazz, and Modern, gaining popularity in the 1970s and 1980s rather than having a single origin or group of pioneers. Having taught Lyrical for nearly two decades, I’ve discovered that it offers dancers a unique vocabulary for storytelling. Unlike Modern’s grounded power or Contemporary’s boundary-pushing, Lyrical flows like poetry in motion. Our students learn to extend their movements beyond their physical space, letting each gesture ripple outward like rings in still water, carefully interpreting the lyrics to the song at hand.
Contemporary dance, which gained prominence in the mid-1970s, represents dance’s evolving future. Innovators like Merce Cunningham and Twyla Tharp pushed the boundaries of what movement could express, with Cunningham championing movement for its own sake and Tharp blending classical and modern elements with a freer style. In our Contemporary classes, students might blend a classical pirouette with floor work, then transition into movements inspired by everyday life. Think of it as a conversation between tradition and innovation.
At Stage Door, we’ve thoughtfully structured our program to develop well-rounded dancers who understand these distinctions. Our Modern training builds core strength and spatial awareness, Lyrical cultivates musical interpretation and emotional depth, and Contemporary nurtures creative problem-solving and artistic risk-taking. Many of our students train in all three disciplines, each style enhancing their overall artistry.
Whether you’re drawn to Modern’s powerful groundedness, Lyrical’s emotional fluidity, or Contemporary’s innovative spirit, Stage Door offers a path for your artistic journey. Join us to experience these distinct styles firsthand – perhaps we’ll see you sharing your own moment of discovery at our upcoming 2025 Dance Recital (#BestShowEver)!
