Acting Skill as a Specific Tool of Modern and Postmodern Dance

The purpose of the article is to identify the features of the use of acting skills in choreographic art through the prism of the specifics of modern and postmodern dance. Research methodology. The method of analysis and synthesis, typological and systemic method, comparative analysis method, art history analysis method, as well as the method of theoretical generalisation were applied. Scientific novelty. The issue of using elements of acting skills in the educational process and the process of staging performances in the vocabulary of modern and postmodern dance is investigated; the specifics of the actor’s skill as an effective tool of the dancer in the process of searching for ‘expressive’ movement are considered. Conclusions. The study found that acting training is necessary for learning dance, as it enriches the expressive tools of the dancer’s body, increases their confidence and team spirit, and also helps the audience to better understand and even actively participate in the spectacle that is a dance performance. Acting in modern and postmodern dance, unlike classical dance, consists not so much in the process of representing a certain choreographic image, but in the freedom of improvisation and experimentation on the way to exploring the philosophical and kinaesthetic components of the art of expressive movement. Thus, the function of acting in modern and postmodern dance is not to ‘express’ emotions, but to provide various methods for their creation.