Contemporary dance, which emerged in the mid-twentieth century, has become a dominant global genre, evolving from modern and postmodern dance with a strong emphasis on innovation and breaking traditional forms. It characteristically blends elements from ballet, modern dance, and various cultural forms, incorporating strong legwork with expressive torso movements, improvisation, and unpredictable changes in rhythm and direction. By the 1980s, contemporary dance became more academically focused and interdisciplinary, exploring complex intellectual concepts and challenging traditional distinctions in choreography to address themes like identity, authenticity, and the unrepresentable.

Pioneering choreographer Merce Cunningham is widely recognized for developing an independent approach, famously collaborating with composer John Cage in 1944 and forming his influential Merce Cunningham Dance Company in 1953. This genre continues to embrace diverse influences, including non-Western dance cultures and the German "Tanztheater," pushing performance boundaries to explore the intangible aspects of human existence.