This evening of reconstructions and short choreographies seeks to search for traces in dance history. The cross section shows the aesthetic diversity of German Ausdruckstanz on the basis of several works by famous female representatives of the time.

Gret Palucca (1902-93) was a student of Mary Wigman and one of the leading Ausdruckstanz dancers in Germany. In 1925, she founded her own school in Dresden that still exists today as the Palucca Hochschule für Tanz. She placed no value on preserving her own choreographies, so hardly any of her dance material exists. However, numerous writings have been preserved. Gret Palucca herself originally danced »Serenata« as a solo.

Marianne Vogelsang (1912-73) belongs to the most outstanding artist personalities of modernity. She studied under Gret Palucca in Dresden. In addition to her solo dance career, she also worked at theatres and taught. From 1971-73, she choreographed her last work »Fünf Präludien aus dem Wohltemperierten Klavier von J. S. Bach« (»Five preludes from J. S. Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier«) which she first danced herself and then passed on to her former student Manfred Schnelle. He died shortly before completing his transition of the choreography to the Berlin dancer Nils Freyer.

Mary Wigman (1886-1973) was a most famous pioneer and protagonist of German Ausdruckstanz. As a dancer, choreographer and dance pedagogue she made this genre well-known abroad. Her style is – in contrast to the lyrical flow found in Palucca, Vogelsang and Dore Hoyer – expressive and dramatic. In 1942-47, she lived and worked in Leipzig.

»Totentänze« (»Dances of death«) belong to her most famous choreographies; they make reference to the artistic tradition of danse macabre: »Totentanz I« (»Dance of death I») was choreographed as a dance grotesque. A number of years later, »Totentanz II« (»Dance of death II«) was created with animal-like masked figures – the painter Ludwig Kirchner attended the Dresden rehearsals, made sketches and painted the oil painting »Dance of death«, which was very important for the reconstruction.

1. Serenata (Serenade)

Choreography: Gret Palucca (1932)

Music: Isaac Albéniz

Palucca Hochschule für Tanz Dresden (3 dancers)