Exhibitions

The century of the dance (2019)

With this exhibition from 24 August to 21 September 2019 under the motto “Was der Körper erinnert. Zur Aktualität des Tanzerbes” (English: What the body remembers – The relevance of the dance heritage), an attempt was made at the Academy of Arts in Berlin to build a bridge between the tradition of modern dance in Germany, which already spans more than a hundred years, and contemporary dance practice on the basis of selected collections from the dance archives.

To this end, the exhibition rooms of the Academy’s building at Tiergarten were divided into two parts. In the front half, archive objects, documents, photos and films were on display; in the back half, an elaborate accompanying programme of dance productions took place, each with its own aesthetics and methodology, relating to the history of modern dance. In addition, there were panel discussions, lectures and debates that also addressed the question of contemporary work by and with dance archives. The exhibition was curated by Heike Albrecht, Gabriele Brandstetter, Nele Hertling, Johannes Odenthal, Ong Keng Sen and Madeline Ritter, in cooperation with the dance archives, represented by Stephan Dörschel, Melanie Gruß, Heide-Marie Härtel, Alexandra Hennig, Helene Herold, Frank Manuel Peter, Patrick Primavesi and Thomas Thorausch.

The base for the exhibition installation were 75 objects that tell the revolutionary story of stage dance in Germany from the beginning of the 20th century to the 1980s in exemplary form. They provide possible answers to the central question of the programme Was der Körper erinnert. In which way is such a body-based and performance-bound art form as Contemporary Dance to be preserved and remembered as a cultural memory, as the material heritage of our culture?

Originals corresponded in the exhibition with digitised photographs and film documents, which expanded the context of the objects through moving images. On a third level, this selection was placed in an international context of dance modernism through 100 photographic and film documents to suggest the creativity and force of dance developments in Europe, the USA and worldwide.

Show more
Show less

A showcase on the Tanzarchiv

As part of a seminar by Dr Melanie Gruß on the holdings of the Tanzarchiv Leipzig, a display case in the long corridor of the Institute of Theatre Studies (Ritterstr. 16, 04109 Leipzig) was filled with selected objects. This new “permanent exhibition of the temporary” exemplifies how students today can engage with the themes and material remains of dance history and its documentation.

Memorial exhibition for Uwe Scholz at the Leipzig Opera House (2014)

On the 10th anniversary of Uwe Scholz’s death on 21 November 2014, a special programme entitled Danke Uwe Scholz (English: Thank you Uwe Scholz) took place at the Leipzig Opera House, which included the opening of an exhibition of films and posters of choreographies by Uwe Scholz, developed in collaboration with the Tanzarchiv Leipzig e.V..

Poster exhibition Folk Dance in the GDR (2013)

As part of the project HEUTE: VOLKSTANZEN (English: TODAY: FOLK DANCE), the exhibition in Hamburg and Leipzig showed the diversity of folk dance as a cultural practice. A selection of posters on folk dance in the GDR from the holdings of the Tanzarchiv Leipzig e.V. documented announcements of events from the years 1954-1988. In addition, film clips from the Sorbian Cultural Archive were on display, contrasting with Olaf Marten’s photographic stagings of folk dance groups today.

Body politics (2012)

Accompanying the international conference Body Politics: Rhythmics, Modern Dance and Movement Choirs in HELLERAU the exhibition showed the development of amateur dance and movement choirs in the 1920s up to the mass choreographies of the Nazi era. It focussed the work of Rudolf von Laban, who is considered one of the founders of modern dance and whose partial estate can be found in the Tanzarchiv Leipzig.

Imaginary archive in the white cube (2010)

During the play!LEIPZIG festival, an imaginary archive was installed in the white cube in the basement of the Schaubühne, which could only be explored through a small window and aroused great curiosity among the numerous visitors.