dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

, floorwork refers to movements performed on the floor. Floorwork is used extensively in modern dance, particularly Graham technique, Hawkins technique, and

breakdancing Breakdancing or breaking, also called b-boying (when performed by men) or b-girling (women), is a style of street dance originated by African Americans and Nuyorican, Puerto Ricans in The Bronx borough of New York City. Breakdancing consist ...

. Some dance training practices, notably Floor-Barre, consist entirely of floorwork. Floorwork changes the body's relationship with

gravity In physics, gravity (), also known as gravitation or a gravitational interaction, is a fundamental interaction, a mutual attraction between all massive particles. On Earth, gravity takes a slightly different meaning: the observed force b ...

, and requires dancers to navigate between higher and lower levels ("going in and out of the floor"). These features are central to the use of floorwork in choreography, and also affect its role in technique classes. Executing floorwork smoothly requires flexible joints, a relaxed body, and attention to the kinesthetic feedback provided by the floor. The "low" or floorwork level is one of three principal spatial levels dancers may occupy, along with the middle or bipedestrian (upright) and the high or aerial (jumping) levels.

Concert dance

The use of floorwork is one of the major differences between

modern dance Modern dance is a broad genre of western concert dance, concert or theatrical dance which includes dance styles such as ballet, folk, ethnic, religious, and social dancing; and primarily arose out of Europe and the United States in the late 19th ...

and previous Western

concert dance Concert dance (also known as performance dance or theatre dance in the United Kingdom) is dance performed for an audience. It is frequently performed in a theatre setting, though this is not a requirement, and it is usually choreographed and perf ...

genres.

Isadora Duncan Angela Isadora Duncan (May 26, 1877, or May 27, 1878 – September 14, 1927) was an American-born dancer and choreographer, who was a pioneer of modern contemporary dance and performed to great acclaim throughout Europe and the United States. Bor ...

incorporated floorwork in dances as early as 1911, although credit for its introduction is more often given to her successor

Martha Graham Martha Graham (May 11, 1894 – April 1, 1991) was an American modern dancer, teacher and choreographer, whose style, the Graham technique, reshaped the dance world and is still taught in academies worldwide. Graham danced and taught for over s ...

. The concept is closely associated with Graham technique, because of Graham's extensive use of floorwork and widely imitated innovations, as well as the technique's unique repertoire of falls. Doris Humphrey has been credited with floorwork innovations in a concert dance context. Later movements derived from classical modern dance also used floorwork extensively.

Contemporary ballet Contemporary ballet is a dance genre that incorporates elements of classical ballet and modern dance. It employs classical ballet technique and in many cases classical pointe technique as well, but allows a greater range of movement of the upper ...

uses the floor as an integral part of the choreography, rather than the occasional kneel or collapse to be found in older romantic ballet styles. Floorwork is essential in the

postmodern Postmodernism encompasses a variety of artistic, cultural, and philosophical movements that claim to mark a break from modernism. They have in common the conviction that it is no longer possible to rely upon previous ways of depicting the wo ...

genre of

contact improvisation Contact Improvisation (CI) is a postmodern dance practice that explores movement through shared weight, touch, and physical awareness. Originating in the United States in 1972, contact improvisation was developed by dancer and choreographer Steve ...

, in which the floor can even be treated as a partner.

B-boying

Floorwork in

b-boying Breakdancing or breaking, also called b-boying (when performed by men) or b-girling (women), is a style of street dance originated by African Americans and Nuyorican, Puerto Ricans in The Bronx borough of New York City. Breakdancing consist ...

(breakdancing) includes floor-based footwork, or downrock, as well as certain more athletic power moves. Downrock is performed with the body supported on the hands and feet. It allows the dancer to display their proficiency with foot speed and control by performing intricate footwork combinations. The foundational move of downrock is the 6-step, although innumerable variants exist. The hands, legs and knees may also be featured or support the body. Downrock often transitions into dramatic power moves, including floor-based moves such as

windmills A windmill is a machine operated by the force of wind acting on vanes or sails to mill grain (gristmills), pump water, generate electricity, or drive other machinery. Windmills were used throughout the high medieval and early modern periods; ...

and

flares A flare, also sometimes called a fusée, fusee, or bengala, bengalo in several European countries, is a type of pyrotechnic that produces a bright light or intense heat without an explosion. Flares are used for distress signaling, illuminatio ...

. Downrock became common in the mid-1970s; Keith and Kevin Smith, known as the "Nigga Twinz", have been credited with popularizing it, as has the original

Rock Steady Crew {{Infobox musical artist , name = Rock Steady Crew , image = , landscape = yes , caption = , alias = , origin = The Bronx New York, Manhattan New York, U.S. , genre ...

. The emergence of floorwork was an important development in breaking, marking the end of the early or "old-school" style.

Belly dance

Floorwork is a feature of many kinds of belly dance, often involving the manipulation of a

prop A prop, formally known as a (theatrical) property, is an object actors use on stage or screen during a performance or screen production. In practical terms, a prop is considered to be anything movable or portable on a stage or a set, distinct ...

while lying on the floor and intended to showcase the dancer's control. Masha Archer, as part of an effort to change what she saw as the over-sexualized and exploitative features of belly dance, rejected floorwork because she did not want audiences to look down on her dancers.

Gallery

File:Alice Sheppard performs "So, I Will Wait.".JPG, alt=A woman in dark, close-fitting clothes and a wheelchair lies on her back, stabilizing herself with her arms and lifting her legs, along with the wheelchair, over her head, In a solo adaptive dance File:Allah Garibou.jpg, alt=Two men in loose clothing on a dance floor, one lifting his leg and the other leaning back to rest on the first man's lower body, In a

contemporary dance Contemporary dance is a genre of Concert dance, dance performance that developed during the mid-twentieth century and has since grown to become one of the dominant genres for formally trained dancers throughout the world, with particularly stron ...

duet File:NWFusion9.jpg, alt=Three women in black leotards, each kneeling on one leg with the other foot on the floor, leaning back to support herself on one hand, and looking at the other hand, which is raised, In a

Concert dance

B-boying

Belly dance

Gallery

References

Further reading