What is contemporary Dance?

I wanted to enlighten everyone on what contemporary dance becuase I have written so much on ballet, which is great, but contemporary is very similar to ballet and I want to educate everyone on how that is.  I also specialize in contemporary dance, and it is my favorite type.  I want to show people how fun it is so that everyone will give it a try.
Contemporary dance was first developed in the 20th century.  It was developed by Martha Graham and Isadora Duncan. They believed by designing contemporary, it would give dancers the freedom of movement. They also thought contemporary was meant for a dancer to express their "innermost feelings."  Contemporary was developed as a reaction against ballet techniques. Contemeporary dance is a type of dance that uses the body's natural lines and energy, allowing a greater range of fluidity of movement than conventional dance techniques.  It also allows a wider range of flexibility.  Dancers of contemporary strive to connect the mind and body through dance.
Contemeporary  also includes several dance generes such as modern, jazz, and lyrical.  Contemporary is differs from ballet in that it is not nearly as strict.  Contemporary is meant for your body to flow to the beat of the music.  It is considered to be less structural, as ballet is structual and strict. 
Contemporary dance can be characterized by its versatility, and it can by danced to almost any style of music.  It is safe and accesible for beginners.
The four main techniques that are used in contemporary dance are:

1. Cunningham-uses body's line of energy
2. Graham- characterized by floorwork
3. Limon-Uses the feeling of weight and heavy energy
4. Release-Release through joints and muscles to create ease of movements, releasing the breath to aid the release of the body

There are also 3 other techniques that are used but are not as common. These are:

• Improvisation-Development of individual movement material is facilitated through a variety of creative explorations
• Contact Improvisations- Duet dance form characterized by weight exchange, fluid movement and touch . Partners improvises using the natural movement of the body.
• Choreography-Designed to encourage personal investigation into the ideas suitable for choreography

Contemeporary dance does not use any shoes and while they dance.  Their costumes are very tight and fit to their bodies for easy movement. 
some information from: blackfishacademy.com and about/contemporarydance.com