The Dance of Death - Kurt Jooss and the Weimar Years (Paperback)

Kurt Jooss was a major contributor to German dance and the Weimar cultural period. As a movement producer, ballet master, choreographer and pedagogue, he was strongly influenced by Rudolf von Laban. Jooss invented an aesthetic focusing on economy, restraint and the essentially significant. His character depictions anticipate future trends and integrate the various media and the avant-garde tendencies of his time.;Jooss co-founded the Folkwang School in Essen and worked closely with Sigurd Leeder in both Essen and during his exile in England. His contribution to Labanotation was significant and his teaching technique is still used in modern times. He anticipated the present trend of fusing modern dance with elements of ballet and practiced this with great success. The influence of his inventions, theories and teaching is still evident today in contemporary German Tanztheater and in the works of man leading choreographers.