by Jess Henderson<\/p>
Witch Dance; homage to Mary Wigman<\/p>
Keywords:\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>free movement, dance, improvisation<\/p> Duration: 3-5 minutes<\/p> \u00a0<\/p> Instructions<\/u><\/strong><\/p> Mary Wigman <\/strong>was a radical modern dance pioneer who rejected formalized technique and instead focused on expression of emotion. The use of dance improvisation as a tool for movement development has its roots in her work. So the mythology goes, she suffered terribly from depression and suicidal thoughts until one day she did a ritualistic dance and cured herself.<\/p> \u00a0<\/p> The elements that define her style include the conviction that dance could be performed without music and that it could have the courage to be ugly.<\/p> \u00a0<\/p> \u2018Hexentanz\/Witch Dance (1926) is a short solo is a masterpiece of strangeness. Wigman aimed for state of ritualised trance as she danced, summoning up the dangerous spirit of her character, yet the detail and control of her movement is remarkable. The savage crackle of those first hexing gestures; the keening, ducking circle of her upper body and head at 0.20 (made all the more strange by the mask she wears); the slow, spooky opening of her knees at 0.29\u2026\u2019[1]<\/a>
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