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Modern dance sometimes just "modern" for short and also called "contemporary" in Britain and on the Continent is the name given to a dance tradition that arose as a reaction to ballet. It may have started as a rebellion against the formalism and conventions of ballet, but it was probably also a reaction to the sorry state of Western European ballet in the late 19th century . It also arose out of a desire to express things and feelings that were thought appropriate to the new century, things that, it was felt, the traditional ballet vocabulary couldn't express. It rejected many of the conventions of ballet turnout, pointed feet, the stated positions, the attempt to defy gravity with leaps and other steps of elevation, dancing on pointe, the use of ballet shoes, and so on.