What features characterized Expressionist modern dance between the world wars?

Expressionist modern dance, which flourished in the decades between the world wars, was defined by its rejection of the artificiality and decorative nature of traditional ballet in favor of profound emotional and dramatic expression.12

Key features characterizing this movement included:

• Serious Subject Matter: Choreographers moved away from fairy-tale narratives to explore the instincts, conflicts, and passions of the human inner self, often reflecting the psychological and social conditions of modern life.12
• Dramatic Movement: Rather than prioritizing formal beauty, movements were designed as expressive gestures. Choreography often featured jagged phrases, angular limbs, clenched fists, and flexed feet to convey power, passion, and frustration.12
• Emphasis on Gravity and Weight: Unlike ballet, which sought to defy gravity, Expressionist dancers emphasized their own weight. Movements were frequently executed close to or on the floor, incorporating falls and recoveries that highlighted the body's struggle against physical limitations.1
• Stylized Choreography: Works often utilized fragmented narratives, shifting timescales, and symbolic group formations to represent social or psychological forces.1
• Influence of Ausdruckstanz: In Germany, this movement was known as Ausdruckstanz (expressionistic dance). It was heavily influenced by theorists like Rudolf Laban, whose systems of physical expression and notation provided a foundation for the era's focus on physiological impulses and rhythm.34

Leading figures such as Martha Graham, Mary Wigman, and Doris Humphrey were central to establishing this style, which prioritized the dancer's innermost impulses over traditional technique.32