The term modern dance is understood colloquially in the field of ballet schools, dance studios and dance education largely as an aesthetic distinction from classical ballet, and thus largely means what is now correctly summarised by the term "contemporary dance".
As a term in the history of dance, modern dance refers to a variant of stage dance that emerged in the USA from efforts to renew classical ballet, but also from the influences of vaudeville, pantomime, silent film, avant-garde and exotic trends since about 1900.