Humphrey wanted to create dances that reflected her individuality and were appropriate to contemporary America. To develop a personal technique she spent many hours in front of a mirror and came to believe that all movement fell within the “arc between two deaths,” or the range between motionless balance and falling imbalance incapable of recovery. She understood that every movement a dancer makes away from the centre of gravity has to be followed by a compensating readjustment to restore balance and prevent uncontrolled falling; the more extreme and exciting the controlled fall attempted by the dancer, the more vigorous must be the recovery. As Mary Wigman had utilized space as the ever-present antagonist, so Humphrey made dramatic use of gravity, displaying the human desire for security (balance) in conflict with the urge for progress and adventure (imbalance). Another of her innovative theories held that movement is not always the consequence of emotional impulse but can itself create meaning.
