Mary Wigman

<p>This book considers dancer, teacher, and choreographer Mary Wigman, a leading innovator in Expressionist dance whose radical explorations of movement and dance theory are credited with expanding the scope of dance as a theatrical art. Now reissued, this book combines:</p><ul> <li>a full account of Wigman’s life and work</li> <li>an analysis of her key ideas</li> <li>detailed discussion of her aesthetic theories, including the use of space as an "invisible partner" and the transcendent nature of performance</li> <li>a commentary on her key works, including <i>Hexentanz </i>and <i>The Seven Dances of Life</i> </li> <li>an extensive collection of practical exercises designed to provide an understanding of Wigman’s choreographic principles and her uniquely immersive approach to dance.</li> </ul><p>As a first step towards critical understanding, and as an initial exploration before going on to further, primary research, <strong>Routledge Performance Practitioners</strong> are unbeatable value for today’s student.</p> <p>MARY WIGMAN: A LIFE IN DANCE </p><p>Prologue: why Mary Wigman? Introduction</p><p>Childhood</p><p>The beginning of a life in dance Dalcroze and the garden city of Hellerau Return to ritual on the mountain of truth Dancing Dada</p><p>The crisis year</p><p>The gilded and tarnished twenties The First Dancers’ Congress</p><p>The Second Dancers’ Congress The Third Dancers’ Congress Coming to the United States <i>Der Weg </i>(The Path)</p><p>Returning to the new Germany Dancing in Dresden, 1933–1942 Leaving Dresden</p><p>To Berlin</p><p>MARY WIGMAN’S WRITINGS ON THE DANCE: A PHILOSOPHY EMBODIED</p><ol> <p>Introduction</p> <i> </i><p>The Language of Dance Philosophical context Why a new dance?</p> <p>Primitively modern</p> <p><i>Spannung </i>and <i>Entspannung </i>Space</p> <p>Time, music, rhythm</p> <i> </i><p>The Mary Wigman Book</p> <p>What did Wigman mean by ecstasy and form? Apollonian and Dionysian</p> <p>Ideas on composition and the choreographic theme</p> <p>Who has inherited the emotive dance lineage of Mary Wigman?</p> </ol><p>MARY WIGMAN AS CHOREOGRAPHER: CHOOSING THE FOCUS </p><ol> <p>Solo as signature: <i>Hexentanz </i>The mask as doorway <i>Hexentanz</i>: a description Group dance</p> <i> </i><p>The Seven Dances of Life (1921) Choric dance</p> <i> </i><p>Totenmal (1930) Final solo concert</p> </ol><p>PRACTICAL EXERCISES </p><p>Class at the Mary Wigman School Discovering the eloquent body</p><p>Wigman movement qualities in practice What makes the dance?</p><p>Space</p><p>Dance as language</p><p>Speaking beyond the individual body</p><p>Composition: improvisation and developing a theme</p><p>One final theme</p>