1978 13c American Dance: Modern

U.S. #1752
1978 13¢ Modern
American Dance Issue
Issue Date: April 26, 1978
City: New York, NY
Quantity: 39,399,600
Printed By: Bureau of Engraving and Printing
Printing Method: Photogravure
Perforations: 11
Color: Multicolored

This 13-cent stamp is the Modern Dance value from the 1978 American Dance block of four, issued on April 26, 1978, in New York City. Designed by John Hill and printed by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing using the photogravure method, the stamp shows two dancers with arms extended and bodies angled outward in the kind of expansive, gravity-defying movement that became the signature of the American modern dance tradition. The single-color design gives the figures a sculptural quality that suits the subject well.

Modern dance was born in America as a deliberate break from classical ballet. Isadora Duncan is widely credited as its earliest pioneer, rejecting the rigid conventions of 19th-century ballet in favor of natural, expressive movement rooted in emotion and individual freedom. Her work in the early 1900s opened the door for the generation that followed — Martha Graham, Doris Humphrey, and Charles Weidman among them — who developed the techniques and vocabularies that defined American modern dance through the mid-20th century. By the time this stamp was issued, modern dance had long been recognized internationally as one of America's most original contributions to the performing arts.