Modern dance is a broad genre of western concert or theatrical dance (as opposed to participation dance), primarily arising out of Germany and the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The oversimplification of modern dance's history often leads to the erroneous explanation that the art form emerged merely as a rejection of, or rebellion against classical ballet. An in-depth analysis of the context of the emergence of modern dance reveals that as early as the 1880s, a range of socioeconomic changes in both the United States and Europe was initiating tremendous shifts in the dance world.