On the dance history of the GDR with an excursus on the dance history of Güstrow
Speaker: Prof. Dr. Ralf Stabel
Supported by: TANZLAND - Federal Cultural Foundation
The genre of dance plays a special role in the history of the GDR. The non-verbal expressive power of dance was used to illustrate the efficiency of socialist society, among other things. Nevertheless, the extent to which dance was respected and promoted in the GDR is still astonishing today. There were countless dance circles in cultural institutions and music schools, dance clubs dedicated to folklore and tradition, professional dance training and a ballet ensemble in almost every existing theater. Numerous publications appeared on the subject of dance and a dance archive was established in Leipzig.
Among the outstanding artistic personalities were Gret Palucca and Marianne Vogelsang. In the dances of Marianne Vogelsang (1912-1973), for example, reviewers often saw moving sculptures by Ernst Barlach. In 1961, German television even had the dancer's choreographic idea captured on film.
The lecture gives an overview of the development of dance in the GDR, also with the help of film excerpts, recalls the "stars and starlets" of that time - Claus Schulz, Emöke and Susan - and asks what has become of them and all that today.
