Movement Culture and Modern Dance in Germany: Ausdruckstanz (1910s 1930s) Rudolph Laban, Mary Wigman, Kurt Joos *Across the ocean another dance revolution began to emerge in Central Europe in the 1910s. It was called Ausdruckstanz (Dance of Expression). *Germany had no strong classical tradition. Like in most of Western European countries prestige of ballet is in decline (except for Russia). Ballet is no longer considered as an art form but something providing light entertainment. But there is a strong dance-gymnastics tradition in Germany origins of which date back to early 1800s. It was evolved into a Körperkultur (body culture) movement at the turn of the 20 th century. Körperkultur expressed the yearning to escape from frustrating effects of urban life and industrialization; establishing a harmony between body, mind and soul through physical exercise in the open air. *So modern dance in Germany emerged in close relation to Körperkultur movement. Difference between them lies in the separation between dance as an exercise and dance as an art form. The former is a formal system of exercise while the latter should be thought in relation to both motion in space and expression aspects. (Still on the other hand dance was frequently served as a new form of physical culture, which indicates to a paradox.) *In Germany the new dance form (Ausdruckstanz) was initiated by Rudolph von Laban. He is best known as a teacher, theorist and innovator of a dance notation system called as Labanotation. *He opened more than 25 schools all around Europe. His works were banned by the Nazi Party; his schools and books were declared anti-german. In 1937 he fled the country. His concept of movement choir was perverted/deviated by the Nazis and transformed into an instrument for mass propaganda, manipulating the masses. 1
*Rudolf von Laban and Movement Choir : The dancer in a movement choir discovers an awakened sense of movement in his inner being by representing himself not as an individual but as part of a greater living group. (R.v. Laban) In 1910 Laban opened a school in Zurich, Switzerland. And in the summer months he transferred his experiments to Ascona where he joined a group of writers, anarchists, anthropologists, philosophers and artists all of which were searching for an alternative way of life in which the human beings could function harmonically despite the destructive effects of the industrial and bureaucratic society. In Ascona, Laban developed the prototype of movement choir : a form of dance mostly performed outdoors, which allowed (a large number of dozens, hundreds and sometimes even thousands) both trained and untrained dancers to move in harmony. Laban introduced the concept of movement choir as a means of promoting a sense of utopian community/collectivity among members of a fragmented society. For Laban, the value of movement choir aesthetic did not depend on either gymnastic or dance skill. Its value was pedagogic: participation in a movement choir changed the mental, emotional, and physical identity of the performer, enhancing an idealized sense of belonging to an artistic community. During the 1920s, movement choir aesthetic was highly identified with left-wing or emancipatory political aims sponsored by the social democrats, the labor unions, the Nacktkultur clubs, the gymnastic organizations, and liberal bourgeois cultural and religious associations. Yet, it is the Nazis who enlarged the scale of movement choir and used/utilized it as an instrument for mass propaganda largely after 1933. One striking example is Olympic Youth, the opening night presentation of the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games. Mary Wigman, Harald Kreutzberg, Gret Palucca, and other German modern dancers-choreographers participated along with thousands of Berlin schoolchildren. Another historically noticeable utilization/appropriation of the 2
movement choir form can be found in certan parts of Nazi Party s 1934 rally (also known as Nureberg Rally), attended by 700.000 people and filmed by Leni Riefenstahl. Nazi mass spectacle aesthetic according to Karl Toepfer: This aesthetic did not tell stories of struggle and revolution but stressed the reality of the moment. The mass spectacle did not merely imagine utopia (of a community) but embodied it through manifestations of power and perfection embedded in, rather than signified by, the act of performance: the mystic figure of the leader, gigantic emblems (eagle and swastika), torches, bonfires, spotlights, flags and drums, loudspeakers, dramatic uniforms, the continuous movement of countless bodies across a vast space, and sudden moments of reverential stillness. Individual bodily movements were simple (march-step, salute), synchronized, and unisonal yet nevertheless capable of creating complex designs, such as an enormous, swirling swastika produced by streams of torch-bearing columns. But on a formal level, mass movement on this scale did not differ significantly from the lay movement choirs of Laban The appeal of Nazi mass spectacles employing the form of movement choir: synhronized, unisonal, militarized, machine-precise movements of the bodies in these spectacles visualized the utopia of an ordered, disciplined, powerful, wellfunctioning, etc. community. What kind of a community?: German-Aryan nation. Online Links: *Olympia Fest der Schönheit http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xm8gp1_olympia-festival-of-beauty_shortfilms (28:53-30:20) *Triumph of the Will http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghs2coazlj8&feature=related (1:03:22 1:06:40) 3
*Mary Wigman and Kurt Joos are students of Laban. For Wigman dance is a way of expression like language, painting, music and philosophy. Main motive behind moving is an inner urge. But for Wigman that inner urge doesn t always have to be something joyful; it could be sorrow, pain, fear, dark sides human nature, death She tried to externalize these inner urges/feelings through movement. *Witch Dance (1914) She wears a mask which she described as a demonic translation of her own features. The sense of evil and animality, clawlike gestures and the earthbound heaviness of the dancer s body are very remote from ballet s prettiness and elegance, Duncan s femininity and lyricism and St Denis oriental glamour. According to Susan Manning her solo works resist eroticization of female dancer and voyeurism of male spectator. Her most important work is Totenmal (Call of the Dead - 1930). It is a tribute to the German soldiers died in WW1. (Still she was also capable of lyricism as in Pastorale) *She opened her school in Dresden in 1920, educated important German modern dancers of the next generation (such as Hanya Holm, Gret Palucca, Harald Kreutzberg). She and her company made three tours to America between 1930-1933 all of which were well received. Hanya Holm Opened a Wigman school in New York in 1931, thus bringing German modern dance to America. Her relation with Nazi regime remained ambigious. Although she didn t left Germany, she was placed on Nazi s blacklist and her school was taken over. It was reopened in 1945. *Kurt Joos, after studying with Laban and helping him to develop Labanotation, worked as balle-tmaster in various German cities, especially in Essen. His choreography blended academic ballet technique (omitting/dropping the use of pointe and virtuosic steps such as pirouettes) with the more expressive movements of Ausdruckstanz. In his choreographies, he used social caricature that demanded strong and sharp social observation. His most important choreography is The Green Table (1932), an anti-war political ballet. Who are the man in Black tuxedos? All the powers that can gain from a war. (Still multiple interpretations are possible, when the Joos and his company was in 4
exile during Second World War, they were viewed as Nazi leaders; when it was revived in 1976 in America, they were associated with American military-industrial complex responsible for the Vietnam War; today? ) You can identify the Gentleman in Black in terms of contemporary notions of power elite. Its message has a continuous relevance. 5