Expressionist dance

Main article: Modern dance

Mary Wigman, pioneer of Expressionist dance (left)

Emmy Towsey (Taussig) and Evelyn Ippen, Bodenwieser Ballet in Sydney, Australia ca. 1939.

Expressionist dance (German: Ausdruckstanz, also translated as "expressive dance") is a European dance form that is part of the German Expressionist movement.

Although the Expressionist dance has had origins in the modern dance pioneered by Rudolf von Laban, his student Mary Wigman is considered the pioneer of Expressionist dance proper. Another pioneer of expressive dance was Gertrud Bodenweiser, founder of the Bodenwieser Ballet.

Other names for it that have fallen out of use include Moderner Tanz, Absoluter Tanz, Freier Tanz, Tanzkunst and Bewegungskunst. German Expressionist dance is related to Tanztheater.

See also

• 20th century concert dance
• contemporary dance
• expressionism
• List of dance style categories
• modern dance

Further reading

• Bergsohn, H. and Partsch-Bergsohn, I. (2003) The Makers of Modern Dance in Germany: Rudolf Laban, Mary Wigman, Kurt Jooss. Independent Publishers Group. ISBN 0-87127-250-4
• Robinson, J. (1998) Modern Dance in France, 1920-1970: An Adventure. Routledge. ISBN 90-5702-015-7
• Vernon-Warren, B. and Warren, C. (Eds) (1999) Gertrud Bodenwieser and Vienna's Contribution to Ausdruckstanz. Routledge. ISBN 90-5755-035-0
• Kolb, A. (2009). Performing Femininity. Dance and Literature in German Modernism. Oxford: Peter Lang. ISBN 978-3-03911-351-4