Courageous dancing is no anomaly in Japan, but the particular kind of bravada that H*Art*Chaos brings to the Western dance world is definitely a new import. Sakiko Oshima formed her all-woman dance company in 1989 with the intention to overturn traditional concepts of female bodies and their modes of

Agitated, Athleticism, Body politic/identity dance, Euro-surreal expressionism, Kinetic, Sexy, Visceral

Elizabeth Streb is an extreme dancer. In her incredibly athletic works, dancers swan-dive from scaffolding, hurl themselves against primary-colored walls, and bounce vigorously on trampolines. This recipient of the 1997 MacArthur genius award describes her ideal move as "dangerous, hard, fast, wild,

Athleticism, Event, Implosive, Kinetic, Physical force

Considered the modern mistress of complex movement, Twyla Tharp takes Merce Cunningham's structural bylaws to their Postmodern conclusions. Tharp's propensity toward permutation and highly abstract schemes has renewed the maverick spirit of Modern Dance. An affluent child of suburbia, Tharp enjoy

Collage, Kinetic, Loose, Pure movement, Quirky