Pedestrian Movement was born out of the postmodern dance movement and marks a shift from elitist, technical dancing bodies, to everyday dancing bodies. The focus was on corporeality, and the body as a vehicle. Going beyond the work of Cunningham, who... [more]

Pedestrian Movement was born out of the postmodern dance movement and marks a shift from elitist, technical dancing bodies, to everyday dancing bodies. The focus was on corporeality, and the body as a vehicle. Going beyond the work of Cunningham, who also freed his movement from traditional symbolism, other postmodern choreographers were not necessarily working with trained dancing bodies. Many became interested in the idea of pedestrian movement, or everyday movement that could be danced by anyone. Classes were taught not through modern dance techniques, but through physical training and improvisation. Yvonne Rainer, out of her curiosity of “movement rooted in everyday experience,” choreographed Trio A in such a way that it could potentially be performed anywhere by anyone. Anna Halprin too was interested in pedestrian dance, and specifically working with non-dancers. She believed their responses to movement impulses were more intuitive than in dancers. Dance became not so much an elite form, as choreographers like Rainer and Halprin wanted to make the art form more accessible. This could be considered a great opportunity for people interested in dance without the formal dance training. However, some considered this shift a threat as the role of the dancer as an elite acrobat was losing its importance. Some people were upset by the “sight of trained dancers performing activities that were well within the compass of the average person.” However, the “deliberate negation of any kind of virtuosity was becoming one of the hallmarks of the postmodern experimentation.” [show less]