FRANÇOIS DELSART AS A CONCEPTUAL PREDECESSOR OF MODERN DANCE

Abstract

The article examines and analyzes the role of François Delsarte as one of the principal forerunners of modern dance and explores the influence of his theory of expressive movement on the development of dance art during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The philosophical and aesthetic principles of Delsarte's system are analyzed, emphasizing the relationship between inner experience and outward gesture, as well as the unity of body, mind and emotion.
Special attention is devoted to the dissemination of Delsartism in the United States through the work of Steele MacKaye and Genevieve Stebbins, who adapted and popularized the method, transforming it into the foundation of a new approach to stage practice and pedagogy. The study traces the impact of these ideas on the artistic concepts of Isadora Duncan, the Denishawn School, and Martha Graham, whose understanding of natural movement, the body's center, and emotional expressiveness may be regarded as a continuation of the fundamental principles established by Delsarte.
The paper also examines the European line of influence through the systems of Émile Jaques-Dalcroze, Rudolf Laban, Kurt Jooss and Pina Bausch, demonstrating the continuity between Delsarte's conception of movement as a bearer of meaning and the emergence of contemporary dance theatre. On this basis, it argues that François Delsarte's contribution extends far beyond the field of actor training and should be recognized as