Given the emphasis on functionality and design for industrial production, the Bauhaus movement Is rarely associated with disciplines such as dance. But for Oskar Schlemmer (1888-1943), translating his principles in motion and performance was just as mandatory as a well-thought-out chair or building.
In the last century, the Bauhaus indelachable our modern built environments formed and the ways in which we think of the relationship between form and function (it even inspired conceptual cookbooks). The German architect Walter Gropius founded the school in 1919 in Weimar, Germany, with the intention of uniting architecture, fine arts and crafts. The school focused on minimalism and create for social good and involved artists and designers such as Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, László Moholy-Nagy, Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee and Anni and Josef Albers.
The Master of Form in the Bauhaus Theater workshop, Schlemmer was a painter, sculptor and choreographer who was responsible for the lower Triadic balletA striking, playful dance structured around groups of three. Debuted in 1922, the avant-garde production consists of three colors-yellow, pink or white and black and three costume shapes-the square, the circle and the triangle.
“Building on multiples of three,” says A statement from Moma“The selfishness of the individual and dualism of the couple has been crossed, with the emphasis on the collective.”
In real Bauhaus form the idea was to eliminate the decorative fringes associated with ballet, including tutus with which bodies can bend, turn and explore a full series of mobility. Instead, the costumes of Schlemmer limit the movement and add a modern quality, because dancers seem stifled and almost mechanical, a nod to the focus of the movement on accessibility through mass production and ‘art in industry’ becomes.
Various illustrations from Schlemmer for the ballet are available online, including his bizarre sculptural costume designs with wide, bustling skirts and lively striped sleeves. Moma’s collections contain a print entitled “Figures in the room‘That reveals one of the most important preoccupations of performance: how to move and work in space.
As can be seen in a fully colored film of the dance from the seventies, the dancers are incredibly intentional when they navigate with scarce sets with clean lines. Open culture Note that they almost resemble Pantomimes or Dolls “with numbers in uncomfortable costumes that trace different forms around the stage and each other.”
A few years ago, Great Big Story created a video that Bavarian Junior Ballet While it was preparing for a performance. The costumes are faithful to Schlemmer’s vision and retain the rigid geometries and smart pallets. As noted by director Ivan Liška, the strange clothing in combination with the colored, robot -like choreography often makes the audience laugh. “It is very successful because the public cannot believe that this is 100 years old,” he says. “There you see the visionary power of Oskar Schlemmer.”
Triadic ballet Is rarely reproduced, but Bavarian Junior Ballet brings the work back to the stage in June to celebrate his 15th birthday. And if you are in New York, you can see one of Schlemmer’s studies in Living in the Machine era at MoMa. It is also worth exploring The Oskar Schlemmer Theater Estate and Archiveswho has a series of archiving images and drawings on its website.
