Mary Wigman Research Paper

Mary Wigman is considered to be one of the pioneers of modern dance alongside Isadora Duncan, Loie Fuller, and others (Ambrosio). Modern dance developed as a rebellion of the restrictions of ballet in order to express movement as an essence of life ("Mary Wigman Biography"). Mary Wigman was a German dancer and Choreographer, born in Hanover, Germany on November 13th, 1886 ("Mary Wigman Biography"). When she was very young she went on a trip to Amsterdam where she attended a dance performance by three students of Emile Jaques-Dalcroze ("Mary Wigman Biography"). This performance leads Wigman to become very fascinated with dance as an expression of life rather than just strict movement ("Mary Wigman Biography"). In 1911 despite her parent’s disapproval, Wigman enrolled in Jaques-Dalcroze’s dance school in Dresden-Hellerau ("Mary Wigman Biography"). Two years later she furthered her dance education by traveling to Switzerland for a dance summer course by Rudolf von Laban, she

Her choreography often included instruments such as gongs, bells, and drums from Asia and Africa due to her influence by non-western and tribal motifs ("The History of Modern Dance"). Her first performances were in Breman and Hanover where she was born; unfortunately, these concerts were poorly received because of how strange this style of dance was in comparison to commonly known ballet ("Mary Wigman Facts"). However, that did not stop Wigman from continuing New German Dance. Later that year she won acclaim from audiences and critics and her reputation was established ("Mary Wigman Facts"). Wigman’s style became known as “Ausdruckstanz”, or Expressionist Dance in Germany ("Mary Wigman Facts"). With her new reputation Wigman opened up her own school of dance in Dresden and taught what we know as modern dance ("Mary Wigman