Mary Wigman

In 1918, she experienced a nervous breakdown and while recovering from it, she choreographed her first group composition, 'Witch Dance', which cemented her dance style and paved her way for a successful career.

On September 18, 1973, she died in West Berlin, West Germany, at the age of 86.

She was born on November 13, 1886 in Hanover, Germany in a bourgeois family. She received her secondary education from the schools in Germany, England, and Switzerland.

While on a visit to Amsterdam, she attended a dance performance by three students of Emile Jaques-Dalcroze, a Swiss composer who evolved his own system of movements called ‘eurhythmics’. She was fascinated with the way the performers portrayed dance as an expression of life.

She developed a keen liking towards dancing and decided to become an expressive choreographer. Therefore, in 1911, she got enrolled in the Jaques-Dalcroze's school in Dresden-Hellerau. As she was passionate about dance and its various aspects, she felt uncomfortable when she was instructed to perform as per predefined norms only.

In 1913, she traveled to Ascona, Switzerland to register for the summer course given by Rudolf von Laban, one of the pioneers of modern dance in Europe. She attended the summer and winter sessions in the Laban School for the next few years, also serving as Laban’s assistant for a brief period of time.

In 1919, she left the Laban School and secluded herself to develop a unique style of dancing—movements which are independent of any musical notes and are capable enough to communicate with the audiences directly. She called this dance style ‘New German Dance’, which was able to express human emotions.

In 1919, she conducted her first professional solo concert in Berlin, followed by performances in Breman and Hanover. Although these shows did not receive positive acclaim, she continued to perform and was finally able to receive appreciation for her works in Hamburg.

In 1920, she opened her own dance school ‘Dresden Central School’ in Dresden. She taught expressionist dance form to her students and experimented with choreography.Some of her pupils were Hanya Holm, Yvonne Georgi, Gret Palucca and Harald Kreutzberg.

In 1923, her dance troupe gave its first dance performance and she conducted international tours with them in the later years. In 1928, she made her first trip to U.K. followed by a tour to America in 1930. Between 1931 and 1933, she conducted two more tours of the U.S.

During this time branches of her dance school spread all over Germany. One of her students, Hanya Hola, helped in the establishment of modern dance schools in America too. In addition to it, educational authorities also prescribed her dance training for the public schools.

In the 1930s, her works as an innovative choreographer became an inspiration for communist dance troupes in America. At the same time, she was officially honored by the German government for her significant contributions.