In Russia at the end of the nineteenth century, experimental choreography exceeded the boundaries of dance and ballet, drawing vital inspiration from a number of arts and fields of inquiry. Against a complex historical and cultural background, the first two modern choreographers emerged: Alexander Gorsky and Mikhail Fokine. These two reformers left to their disciples, Nikolai Foregger, Kasyan Goleizovsky and Fyodor Lopukhov, the task of revolutionizing dance, assigning to it an equal and autonomous role among its sister arts. The present essay discusses these complex developments starting from an examination of the most significant writings by Foregger, Goleizovsky and Lopukhov on dance, which have also been translated and included in the appendix.