Hitler's Dancers - German Modern Dance And The Third Reich

The Nazis burned books and banned much modern art. However, few people know the fascinating story of German modern dance, which was the great exception. Modern expressive dance found favor with the regime and especially with the infamous Dr. Joseph Goebbels, the Minister of Propaganda. How modern artists collaborated with Nazism reveals an important aspect of modernism, uncovers the bizarre bureaucracy which controlled culture and tells the histories of great figures who became enthusiastic Nazis and lied about it later. The book offers three perspectives: the dancer Lilian Karina writes her very vivid personal story of dancing in interwar Germany; the dance historian Marion Kant gives a systematic account of the interaction of modern dance and the totalitarian state, and a documentary appendix provides a glimpse into the twisted reality created by Nazi racism, pedantic bureaucrats and artistic ambition.

List of contents

Translator's Foreword

Jonathan Steinberg

Preface

Marion Kant

PART I RECOLLECTIONS

Lilian Karina

Introduction

How this work came about

Have artists an interest in political and social circumstances?

The Faces of my Past

Chapter 1. A Historical Overview of the Labanist Period

Pre Labanism: The Rise of the Culture of the Body (1900-1920)

The Era of Labanism at its Peak: the Development of "New Dance," Modern and Stage Dance (1920s-1937)

Opposition to Labanism – Realistic Dance Theater

Chapter 2. Art and Culture under National Socialism

The New Legislation

The Doctrines of Race and Inheritance

The Invention of the Jewish Race: from Wagner to Rosenberg

Chapter 3. Sectarianism and Dance

The Historical Path of Racial Hygiene

Sects, Cults and Secret Societies

The New Magicians of Dance: Steiner, Klamt, Duncan, Laban

The Search for a Dance "True to Type" ["arteigen"]

Chapter 4. The Fates of Emigrants

Evgenia Eduardova and Josef Lewitan

Victor Gsovsky

Kurt Jooss

Sascha Leontieff

Aurél von Milloss

Lia Schubert

Chapter 5. The Situation in Scandinavia

The Association of Swedish Dance Pedagogues

Gertrude Engelhardt

Elsa Lindenberg

Edgar Frank

Lilian Karina

Chapter 6. Laban's Downfall and Post-Labansim

Post-Labanism

PART II: "DANCE IS A RACE QUESTION." THE DANCE POLITICS OF THE REICH MINISTRY OF POPULAR ENLIGHTENMENT AND PROPAGANDA

Marion Kant

Introduction

The State of Dance Research

Dance in Germany in 1930

Chapter 7. The Reich Ministry for Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda

The Foundation of the Reich Chamber of Culture

Rivalries about Culture and Art

The Propaganda Ministry and the Reich Theater Chamber

Chapter 8. The Nazi Redirection of Dance

The Plan for a Nazi Dance Policy

Chapter 9. Ministerial Dance Politicos – Rudolf von Laban and Otto von Keudell

The Dance Festivals of 1934 and 1935

Chapter 10. The German Dance Theater and The German Master Workshops

Regulations for the Conduct of the Dance Examinations

The Olympic Games

The Temporary Finale

Chapter 11. The Next Stage

The Laban Case

The Wigman Case

Chapter 12. After Laban's Fall

From German Dance to German Ballet

A Ban on Dance

Total Dance

Post Script

PART III: THE NAZI ATTEMPT TO SUPPRESS JAZZ AND SWING: A CASE STUDY

Marion Kant

PART IV: DANCE UNDER THE NAZIS: DOCUMENTARY APPENDIX

Selected and Edited by Marion Kant

Appendix: The Administrative Structure of the Reich Ministry of Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda and the Reich Culture Chambers

Chronology

References

Abbreviations and Glossary

Sources

Archives and Collections

Bibliography

Index

Name entries

Subject entries

About the author

Marion Kant was raised in East Berlin and began dancing at the Comic Opera at the age of 14. She took her PhD at Humboldt University in musicology and dance history and has taught at the Free University of Berlin, Kings College London, Cambridge University, the University of Surrey and now at the University of Pennsylvania.

Summary

The Nazis burned books and banned much modern art. However, few people know the fascinating story of German modern dance, which was the great exception. Modern expressive dance found favor with the regime and especially with the infamous Dr. Joseph Goebbels, the Minister of Propaganda. How modern artists collaborated with Nazism reveals an important aspect of modernism, uncovers the bizarre bureaucracy which controlled culture and tells the histories of great figures who became enthusiastic Nazis and lied about it later. The book offers three perspectives: the dancer Lilian Karina writes her very vivid personal story of dancing in interwar Germany; the dance historian Marion Kant gives a systematic account of the interaction of modern dance and the totalitarian state, and a documentary appendix provides a glimpse into the twisted reality created by Nazi racism, pedantic bureaucrats and artistic ambition.

Additional text

"This book points the way for the next steps of further research ... [It] will be a seminal work in facilitating the analysis of understanding the roles of dance and body under fascism." ����H-Net Reviews

"... a bristling book ... Rarely have we been invited to read polemical history charged with both emotional intensity and – thankfully – voluminous documentation ... Reading along with rapt attention, I can't decide which is more surprising: the blistering clarity and conviction of Kant's claims and their documantation, or the fuzzy preoccupation with self that Hitler's dancers seemed to embody during this period." ���� Dance Critics Association Newsletter

"This is a welcome publication ... [It] provides a valuable insight into the period for English-speaking readers ... The authors provide much new information and pose some serious questions ... essential read." ���� Dance Theatre Journal

From the reviews of the German edition:

"This book will change a lot in dance history. And it will indeed be a painful awakening for the idol worshippers who forgive artists all sins and place them above all moral responsibility."����Judisk Kroenika

"This books is indispensable because of its many important documents." ����Ballettanz

"Highly recommended ... The most important publication on dance in the Third Reich." ����Tanzwissenschaft

"An important contribution to the discussion [on Nazism and dance] - obligatory reading on the history of dance - that makes parts of this book as gripping as a thriller." ����Der Tanz der Dinge

Product details

• Authors: M. Kant, Marion Kant, L. Karina, Lilian Karina, Lilian/ Kant Karina, Jonathan Steinberg
• Publisher: BERGHAHN BOOKS, INC
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 01.09.2004
• EAN: 9781571816887
• ISBN: 978-1-57181-688-7
• No. of pages: 364
• Dimensions: 152 mm x 222 mm x 19 mm
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Art > Miscellaneous; Performance Studies, Gender Studies and Sexuality