Contemporary dance is generally defined as the choreographic stage dance art of the present day. In contrast to classical ballet, the term was coined at the beginning of the last century, in particular through the work of American choreographer Martha Graham.
The dance scholar Johannes Odenthal defines contemporary dance as follows: contemporary dance is not based on just one technique or aesthetic form, but on diversity. It seeks to cross the boundaries between the arts and repeatedly breaks with existing forms. Contemporary dance in this sense has an open structure that deliberately sets itself apart from the fixed, linear designs of classical and modern times.
