Why is Mary Wigman important to me? Samantha

I remember when I was first introduced to Mary Wigman when I was a freshman in college at Columbia College Chicago.  We spent maybe a class period on her, but I was capivated by her movement quality when my instructor showed us Witch Dance.  I feel that for the first time in dance that someone was brave enough to explore movement that wasn't the stereotypical, "pretty and free," movement.  Even though I know that not all of her works were like Witch Dance, but I commend Wigman on her bravery to create sometime that was beyond the norm. 
I think that as a mover I can relate to her the most as well...She loves throwing herself into the front and back space, I do as well.  After taking Laban Movement Notation, I loved experimenting with analytical side as well as putting my own style, just how she had with exploring the space, space holds, and cross-lateral connections.  I love the idea of integrating my creative and analytical vocie together when dancing as well as Mary did.
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I really love this picture because Wigman is doing something that I tend to do alot when I dance.  I love going into the back space with my back.  Even though it is not the best for your spine, it is habit to me, the feeling of opening my chest to the sky feels like an ode to the dance gods, who have obviously have given me the ability to dance.  I feel that in the picture that Mary feels the same way.
-Sam

"Dance would have little meaning, and would have no life, no enduring quality at all,had   we already conquered it to such an extent. That its possibilities were clearly defined, its style set, and its development decided upon." ~Mary Wigman~

Why I care.

Mary Wigman is a very influential figure in modern and still is today. She is known for the freedom she exhibited in her dancing, which you are able to see today in Modern dance. I find Wigman’s work to be very moving since she was not afraid to experiment with different concepts in her work. For instance, the way she had used masks in her pieces to create different personalities on stage. It added to the concept of her stage dance, to create a more theatrical feel within her dances. I feel that Wigman had shown movement contrast in the pieces she created as well. She was able to show extreme tension and sharp angular movements, which was shown in her Witch Dance, but she was also able to illustrate more soft and free slowing movement, which was shown in her work, Totenmal. In my opinion it is important as a dancer to show versatility, rather then sticking with one particular form. 

Besides what I believe to have been influential movement concepts Wigman was known to be a leading figure in dance for other cultures as well. After WWII she reconstructed her school in Berlin, Germany. It became the center for all modern dance enthusiasts, bringing people in from all over the world. One of Wigman’s students, Neue Tranz, from Japan, was very inclined by her teachings. Tranz took what he had learned from Wigman’s school and brought modern dance to Japan. Here Tranz carried on Wigman’s teachings and stimulated the world of modern dance in Japan. Hanya Holm was another lineage of Mary Wigman. Holm also took Wigman’s teachings and expanded them to the United States, opening up a Wigman’s School of Dance in New York.

 I feel she went beyond just teaching, choreographing, and performing dance. Wigman came to inspire other dancers to expand and carry on her work through out the world. She brought modern dance to places where there was no modern dance and gave people a new form of movement and expression. Her concepts of dance as well can link to dance today, especially her stage dance. After Wigman I believe you saw more people take into account the stage part of the dance and explore new possibilities with the set, lighting, and costuming. The public should take note of Wigman’s teachings. She has been part of changing the course of dance history by her concepts and bringing modern dance to other countries. 

-Dani Koeck

 Below is one of Wigman's works titled, Totenmal, that I had mentioned above.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyNkEm-cFVk&feature=results_main&playnext=1&list=PL824B75CA1ED32B68

The Bigger Picture.

Mary Wigman grew up during the industrialization of Europe, which was a major influence on her creative voice. There were new possibilities to look forward to and explore during this time that had never been offered before.  Many different art forms were embracing this idea of new possibilities to expand the repituare of work. For instance, cubism, a visual art form went outside the box from the usual portraits and landscapes done. Below is an example of cubism by Pablo Picasso.

    

As you can see the industrialization caused shifts within the artistic world.
Another event that was a major influence of Wigman's initial theory of dance would be WWII 1939-1945. During this time we was forced to close her school in Dresden and fire all her Jewish dancers, but allowed to teach a small amount of students in Leipzig, Germany. Here she performed solo work in private, due to Nazi rule.
There were many dramatic adjustments in Germany at the time and her life, such as, Industrialization of Europe, WWII, and the disapproval of her parents. These were all contributing factors to her work and movement quality.

Influences and training

Wigman was first inspired to dance after seeing some of Jaques Dalcroze's students perform in 1910 in Amsterdam. After this she protested against her parents and enrolled in Dalcroze's school, which specialized in rhythmic gymnastics. She trained there for approximately two years and then with the encouragement of Emil Nolde, who was an expressionist painter, went to Switzerland and took summer lessons with Laban in 1913. Wigman found she enjoyed this style of dance rather then the strict and precise movements of rhythmic gymnastics.
After several years studying with Laban she became his assistant in 1919. She soon departed from Laban since she found Laban was to invested with his theories. In contrast, she was more passionate with moving and freeing the body, which led her to discover her own personal ideas of dance. Shortly following, Wigman opened up her own school in Dresden, Germany in 1920.
 With all these influences, she created a form of dance called, Absolute Dance. Absolute dance was often expressive. It was a combination of her training between Dalcroze and Laban, her driven personality, heritage, and the atmosphere of pre-nazi Europe. In addition to the influences, Wigman was also drawn to counter direction and spatial pulls with Laban's articulate technique.

Witch Dance

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tp-Z07Yc5oQ

Introduction to Mary Wigman

 

Mary Wigman, a native of Hanover, Germany grew up in a very wealthy family during the industrialization of Europe. Her father was a manufacture and created his own business. When Wigman was nine her father had passed, where she was confined to the family business.
For her secondary education she had strived to go to the Gymnasium in Germany, an all girls school. Instead her family forced her to attend school in Germany, England, and Switzerland. With her parents intention to become "attractive and marriageable" and to be a factor in her family's upward social mobility for their own sake.  Her parents eventually arranged two engagements, but both of them were unsuccessful.
Wigman kept searching for an outlet to express herself. She had turned to singing and wanted to make a career of it, but once again it did not meet with her family's expectations.  After seeing Dalcroze's dancers perform she decided to go against her parents will and came to study with Dalcrose and Laban.  In 1920 she opened a school in Dresden, which eventually expanded all over Germany, and opening one in New York.
Wigman believed in two essential types of dancing, absolute and stage dance. Absolute dance, described as exciting and moving for the dancer. Also interested in the reaction of the audience to the dance. In stage dance she concentrated on the atmosphere of the total stage event. In addition to the aesthetic of her dances, she used masks to create different personalities. These personalities were grotesque, weighted, bound, emotional, and bizarre.
During the 1960's Wigman retired because of old age and blindness. Even after her retirement/death her ideas are still carried on today.

"Our dance is born of our age and it's spirit, it has the stamp of our time as no other art form has." -Mary Wigman