ABSTRACT
The real founder of modern dance was arguably Vaslav Nijinsky, who presented new movement vocabularies and new structural models in the repertory of the Diaghilev Ballets Russes, which was generally understood to be a ballet company. Some viewers compared Balanchine’s company to a modern dance organization for its unusual focus on one artistic vision and a decisively original movement philosophy. Seen in this light William Forsythe’s advances in movement design and range of interests suggest he is in fact leading the field of modern dance through the vehicle of classically trained dancers working on the forward edge of ballet’s inherent possibilities. Critical efforts to define him out of the field and lay down rules for where ballet may properly be headed are made irrelevant by the authority of those who make the work.
