2009/02/25 by Kate Elswit · 1 citation
Social Sciences · Arts and Humanities · Psychology · #European history and politics #German History and Society #Diversity and Impact of Dance
paper · doi:10.1162/dram.2009.53.1.73
openalex publication_date 2009/02/25 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/25
Dance and death combined in post-WWI Germany to complicate the material authority they were seen to share. Using nascent modern dance techniques to exploit the expressive capacities of the dancing body, choreographers turned to dances of death to portray the increasingly difficult conditions of humanity. The logistics of performing these spectacles of the real are investigated through three choreographer/performers of the Weimar Republic: Kurt Jooss, Valeska Gert, and Anita Berber.