Oskar Schlemmer: Mechanical Ballets?

Author(s): Susanne Lahusen

Source: Dance Research: The Journal of the Society for Dance Research, Vol. 4, No. 2
(Autumn, 1986), pp. 65-77
Published by: Edinburgh University Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1290727
Accessed: 06-08-2017 19:42 UTC

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 OSKAR SCHLEMMER:
MECHANICAL BALLETS?

Susanne Lahusen

German dance in the 1920s is commonly identified with Express-

ionist dance: a genre which emphasised intense, personal experi-
ence. Few dance historians mention that a completely different
kind of dance theatre existed in Germany at the same time.
Whilst the Bauhaus at large has achieved universal acclaim
and recognition, the activities of its stage workshops are gener-
ally considered to be of minor importance. What is often
overlooked is the fact that the workshop headed by Oskar
Schlemmer (1888-1943), pioneered a form of dance which fitted
the categories neither of classical ballet nor of German Express-
ionist dance. Schlemmer, in contrast to the general tendencies of
his time, was the first artist to explore abstraction in dance.
Admittedly, the actual number of dances Schlemmer created is
rather small; yet, because of his innovative approach, his work
deserves far greater recognition than it has received so far. Even
when Schlemmer's work for the stage is mentioned, it is often
described as an interesting yet insignificant attempt to create
'mechanical' ballets.

In 1929 the Frankfurt theatre critic Bruno Reifenberg had

condemned Schlemmer's art as meaningless experiment, com-
parable to a pianist's finger exercises to which no one would go
to listen in a concert hall. In 1931, in a highly emotional article in
the magazine Schrifttanz, Ernst Kallais had accused Schlemmer of
making the human dancer superfluous and, instead of choreog-
raphing movement, simply presenting a series of 'stills'. In more
recent times, Lincoln Kirstein, even though he attributed a
certain historical importance to Schlemmer's Triadic Ballet,
nevertheless suggested that 'the work is significant as a now
familiar statement of dehumanisation, with bankrupt choreogra-
phy replaced by costume as decor'.
In the light of recent reconstructions of the Bauhaus Dances
and the Triadic Ballet in the United States and Germany, and
with the renewed interest in German dance during the 1920s, it

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 DANCE RESEARCH

has become essential to take a fresh look at Schlemmer's work

and to re-assess his historical significance.
By 1923, the year in which Schlemmer took over the stage
workshops, the Expressionist phase of the Bauhaus had come to
an end. Schreyer, his predecessor, had been a member of the
'Sturm' group, which greatly distrusted the concept of form as a
basis for the theatrical creation; intensity of emotion had become
the prime measure for quality. However, with the changing
philosophy of the Bauhaus, and its growing concern with pure
form and the synthesis of art and technology, Schreyer's
methods no longer fitted in with the new artistic concepts, and
he was forced to resign.

Figure 1. The laws of motion of Figure 2. The metaphysical forms

the human body in space, drawing of expression, drawing by
by Schlemmer, 1924. Schlemmer, 1927.

Oskar Schlemmer, who was already on the Bauhaus staff

had been head of the sculpture workshop since 1921 -
immediately transferred to direct the stage workshop
decision was made by Walter Gropius who had been gr
impressed by Schlemmer's Triadic Ballet which had had its
performance in Stuttgart in 1922. For Schlemmer, thi

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 OSKAR SCHLEMMER: MECHANICAL BALLETS?

appointment presented an ideal opportunity fully to

himself to the creation of dance and theatre productions
which had fascinated him from an early age. Through
life, Schlemmer kept a diary which, together with a num
published articles, gives us valuable insights into his the
the stage. Few of these theories are concerned with danc
for, like other Bauhaus artists, Schlemmer refused to r
the limits of traditional art categories. Most critics emphasis
Schlemmer's dances are obviously the work of a visual ar
Schlemmer never described himself as a painter or sculp
the first place.
His main concern was the exploration of space, for whi
painting and the theatre had an important role to play. P
provided a theoretical understanding of spatial elements,
as the theatre was concerned with the practical asp
experiencing space. This analysis of theory and practice
to apply Nietzsche's concept of Apollonian and Dionys
ments in art, with painting being symbolised by Apollo a
theatre by Dionysos. Much of Schlemmer's work can
under this main theme: the reconciliation of polarities.
and practice were meant to complement each other
emotion and technology were not necessarily seen as mu
exclusive.

From Schlemmer's writing it becomes clear that man has

always been the centre of his work, and is seen as the measure of
all things; yet, inherent in man, there is a longing for order, and
a desire to analyse the mechanical laws within himself as well as
the laws governing his relationship to the space surrounding
him. Technology has arisen out of this desire for order, and can
always be related to man himself. The modern artist's acceptance
of technology, therefore, is by no means in conflict with the
principles of traditional artists, as Schlemmer explained:
When the artists of today appreciate the machine, technol-
ogy and organisation, when they want precision instead of
vagueness, then this is nothing but an escape from chaos
and a longing for form. And when they turn to the old in
art rather than to recent manifestations, then they honour
convention and law. When Stravinsky reaches back to Bach
and Pergolesi, or when Busoni turned to Mozart, or when

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 DANCE RESEARCH

painting returns on a large scale to representation, the

this is nothing but a return to the basis that is most sa
tradition.2

~~~~~~~h ?~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

\ \W\~~- 1/ I

1II

rb - - I - j
- I x Y 'Y Y YW V X v

II~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~I

I A '/
I

Figure 3. The laws of cubical space, drawing by Schlemmer, 1924.

The excerpt is from an article called 'The Mathematics of the

Dance' and it is in this article that Schlemmer's fundamental
views on dance and on art in general are shown most clearly.
Form is essential in all art, yet it is never dehumanising, as it is
basic to the human condition itself.
Just as Stravinsky looked back to Bach for the essence of
musical form, Schlemmer looks at classical ballet in order to find
a sound basis for his own innovations. His arguments for this
choice are:

The precise training, the choreography that has been

developed for centuries, the 'freedom within law', all these
in their finest achievements are still able to fascinate. The
happiest union was still that between the full-blooded

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 OSKAR SCHLEMMER: MECHANICAL BALLETS?

dancing genius of the Russians and the French traditio

union that led to ultimate victories. After that come ch
high-school teacher methodology next to expressionist
ecstacy, next to heroic rubbish.3

Although Oskar Schlemmer was not a trained dancer hims

and there were no classes in classical ballet at the Bauhaus,
based some of his dances on ballet technique. Admitted
made no innovations as far as the technique itself was concer
yet from his writings it has become clear that he value
simplicity and legibility that ballet had the potential to prov
In this respect, Schlemmer's theories are in harmony with
general philosophy of the Bauhaus; traditional crafts were
as an essential part of the curriculum, and by no means opp
to modern technology. Technique and clarity of form w
emphasised in order to liberate the artist from chaos an
confusion. It was not technology that dehumanised the artist
his work, but the over-indulgence in decoration and orname
tion. Equally, Bauhaus artists argued that form itself was ca
of shaping our thoughts and feelings. Walter Gropius stres
this phenomenon: 'for it is true that the mind can transform
body, it is equally true that structure can transform the min
To Bauhaus artists, therefore, it made sense to start with form
often in its greatest simplicity, and only after the work of art
been created might there be an attempt to analyse its mean
Oskar Schlemmer's work epitomises this search for simplicit
form. He wrote: 'I am for the beginning with the 'one,
three', and the ABC, because I hold simplicity to be a great f
in which every significant innovation is rooted' and 'D
movements should start with one's own life, with standing
walking, leaving leaping and dancing for much later.'5 Schl
mer's Triadic Ballet perfectly illustrated this theory. In term
dance movement the ballet is very simple. Even though
ballerina in the first act is on pointe, and basic classical step
used, the ballet is completely devoid of virtuosity. Inst
Schlemmer concentrated on creating floor patterns of g
clarity which perfectly harmonised with the shapes of
costumes and the movements of the dancers.
This search for simplicity and clarity led him closely
examine the mechanics and the efficiency of human movem

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 DANCE RESEARCH

and their translation into dance. Frequently it is this asp

work which critics have in mind when they accuse Schl
'dehumanising' the dancer.
It is true that Schlemmer was influenced by the theo
Heinrich von Kleist who had written an essay called 'U
Marionettentheater', in which he described the observati
balletmaster visiting a puppet show. His description en
the conclusion that the unreflective grace of the pupp
greater than that of the human body. Schlemmer often
his students to imitate the movement of puppets so th
would explore gestures totally different from traditio
styles. However, he did not want to reduce the dancer to
what he strove for was to create new symbols to repre
technological age. Amongst these new symbols there mi
be a mechanical figure, yet this figure would never re
human dancer. Mechanisation, for Schlemmer, is only
number of choices for presenting man on stage.
important one, because mechanisation has become an
of our time, but it can never be an exclusive one. Schlemmer
described mechanisation as: 'the inexorable process which now
lays claim to every sphere of life and art. Everything which can
be mechanised is mechanised. The result: our recognition of that
which cannot be mechanised.'6
Apart from the mechanical theatre, Schlemmer made a list of
numerous other forms of theatre, ranging from the abstract
formal to the comic, the sublime, the political and the meta-
physical theatre, to name only a few. Man provides the central
focus for all of them, yet the concept of man has to be explored
in different ways, which traditional theatre has largely neglected.
In fact, if the artist was to look for models from traditional
theatre at all, Schlemmer suggested that they were far more
likely to be found in the Javanese, Chinese and Japanese theatre,
than in the European theatre of today.
In his own work, Schlemmer largely concentrated on concepts
of abstraction. Today, the Triadic Ballet is recognised as marking
the beginning of a new, abstract dance style. Schlemmer explains
abstraction by contrasting it with the 'theatre of illusionistic
realism': 'Either abstract space is adapted in deference to natural
man and transformed back into nature. This happens in the
theatre of illusionistic realism. Or natural man, in deference to

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 OSKAR SCHLEMMER: MECHANICAL BALLETS?

abstract space, is recast to fit its mould. This hap

abstract stage.'7

Figure 4. Triadic Ballet, a specially arranged group, Berlin

performance, Stuttgart 1922).

For Schlemmer, dance in its purest form is nece

stract, because its creations arise largely from what
'sensation of space'. He held that space, by determin
for everything that happens within the limits, also
the gestures of the dancer within the space. In his dr
his writings, he tried to demonstrate that: 'out of pl
ry, out of the pursuit of the straight line, the diagon
and the curve, a stereometry of space evolves, almost
the moving vertical line of the dancing figure.'8 Sch
not see space as a void, but something which can be
by sight as well as by touch. The design of the actu
ance space, therefore, was of great importance to th
stage workshops. In Schlemmer's opinion, the tradit
pean stage did little to enhance the audience's spatia
of a performance. He greatly admired Walter Gropi

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 DANCE RESEARCH

the 'total theatre'. Inspired by models from antiquity, G

had designed a performance space in which all seating co
adjusted so that the stage would be positioned at either e
the auditorium or in a central position. In addition ther
circular acting area entirely surrounding the audience. I
ity, Schlemmer had to adapt most of his dances to tradit
designed theatre spaces. No actual theatre existed in W
and plans for the specially built performance space in
had to be greatly modified.
Schlemmer, therefore, concentrated on costume design
he regarded as equally important in his pursuit of abstr
Man has to be transformed into 'man as dancer' (he uses
German term 'Tanzermensch'), and costume is one of th
obvious means for this transformation. In his view, ver
genuine stage costumes had been created to achieve this
formation; far too often artists confused theatrical with native
costumes. Genuine stage costumes are mostly found in the
Commedia dell'arte, such as Harlequin, Pierrot and Columbine.
Schlemmer believed that the transformation of the human
figure could be achieved by four basic methods of abstraction.
One would be to look at the laws of the surrounding cubic space.
The cubic forms are transferred to the human shape, thus the
costumes consist of separate cubes for each part of the body. A
second method is to look at the functional laws of the human
body in its relationship to space: 'These laws bring about a
typification of the bodily forms: the egg shape of the head, the
vase shape of the torso, the club shape of the arms and legs, the
ball shape of the joints.'9 The result would be a costume giving
the dancer a marionette-like appearance. The third method of
transformation emphasises the laws of motion of the human
body in space. These costumes are meant to show the various
aspects of rotation and direction. All of Schlemmer's ballets have
made use of these three different types of costume, and they
have certainly contributed to a very characteristic Bauhaus style
of performance. It is, however, the fourth method of trans-
formation which Schlemmer thought to be the most important
one. He argued that the body itself had numerous possibilities
for abstraction. He described these transformations as: 'the
metaphysical forms of expression, symbolising various members
of the human body: the star shape of the spread hand, the

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 OSKAR SCHLEMMER: MECHANICAL BALLETS?

infinity sign of the folded arms, the cross shape of th

and shoulders, the double head, multiple limbs, div
suppression of forms.10
All four methods of transformation clearly show how
concepts of space, form and colour closely relate to th
condition. In practice, this factor is particularly we
strated by Schlemmer's Bauhaus Dances. In Space Danc
the three dancers wears a different-coloured costume and shows
distinctive movement characteristics and floor patterns. These
differences are contrasted with the uniformity of the outline o
the costumes. The three gaits are inextricably linked with the
characteristics of the three colours. Space Dance is thus a
visualisation of Schlemmer's theory in which a colour, a major
aspect of form, becomes a metaphor for human temperament.
Another dance which is equally important for illuminating
Schlemmer's theoretical work is Pole Dance. A dancer, dressed all
in black, enters the stage with long white sticks fastened to her
limbs. Each movement creates a new design as the sticks function
as extensions of the dancer's body. What becomes clear is the
close relationship between the organic geometry of the human
body, and the abstract geometry of the surrounding space.

Figure 5. Metal Dance,

1929 (first performance,
Dessau, 1926).

Another dance in the series, called Metal Dance, was highly

symbolic of the concerns of the Bauhaus at large. Under the

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 DANCE RESEARCH

leadership of Moholy-Nagy, the metal workshop had

one of the most important departments of the school. M
seen as the most obvious symbol of the technological age,
Bauhaus artists it did not represent a threat to man's ae
sensibilities. On the contrary, by 1929 the metal works
created so many superior new designs that its products v
became synonymous with the art of the Bauhaus. Schlem
dance is set in an environment of metal; the dancer, how
not dominated by this environment - she controls it from
All of Schlemmer's dances, with their elaborate sta
costume designs, bear the strong mark of the pain
sculptor, yet their essence lies in the movement conten
Schlemmer, in an article called 'Misunderstandings' (a re
Kallai's review), recalls that the figurines from the Triad
had lost all their meaning when shown motionless in an
tion. Furthermore, having already been established as a
and sculptor, there would have been no need for him to
choreographing had he not primarily been interested
movement factor. The main reason that he chose abstractionism
as the predominant style was to provide a balance to Expression-
ist dance, of which he believed there were already far too many
representations in Germany.
A critic from the National Zeitung in Basel recognised the
significance of his approach. He wrote:

People who are trying to discover 'something' behind all

this will not find anything, because there is nothing to
discover behind this. Everything is there, right in what one
perceives. There are no feelings which are 'expressed',
rather feelings are evoked. The whole thing is a 'game'. It is
a freed and freeing 'game' . . . Pure, absolute, form. Just as
the music is.l

Schlemmer prophesised that dance would be more successful

than most other arts in its pursuit of abstraction. The New York
critic, Anna Kisselgoff, suggests that Schlemmer's predictions
could even apply to Balanchine's pure-dance ballets, where
space and the body have become the dancer's main instruments.
Yet Schlemmer has not left a direct heir to his work. Looked at
superficially, Alwin Nikolais' approach has some similarity.
Nikolais' main concern, however, has not been primarily with

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 OSKAR SCHLEMMER: MECHANICAL BALLETS?

spatial aspects, but rather with the effects obtained by

of film, costume, props and sound. Whereas Schlem
interested in the function of objects, Nikolais' aim is t
'theatre of illusion'.

Figure 6. Pole Dance, 1927 (first performance, Dessau, 1926).

Some of Schlemmer's ideas found recognition at Black Moun-

tain College in North Carolina, where in 1936, Xanti Schawin-
sky, one of his students, began teaching a theatre course. Hi
productions were largely based on Schlemmer's didactic experi-
ments, but there is no evidence of any recognition other than
within the College.
There are several reasons why Schlemmer has left no legacy.
The most obvious one is the discontinuity created by the Nazis
Whereas most other Bauhaus arts flourished in exile, the exist-
ence of the stage workshop was too intimately linked to Schlem-
mer's personal initiative. At the same time, it was impossible to
divorce his own aesthetic from the general philosophy of the
Bauhaus. It was unlikely, therefore, that an outside chore-
ographer, who had not been exposed to this philosophy, could

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 DANCE RESEARCH

have produced similar work. Another important factor

Schlemmer had not evolved a particular dance techniq
did he outline a specific choreographic method. His
workshop was not a proper theatrical school as such, bu
one of many options within a curriculum which incr
favoured architecture as the predominant field of study.
theless, Schlemmer's art deserves far more recognition th
received so far. In contrast to the work of many of his c
poraries, Schlemmer's dances do not look in the least
Their visual beauty, the clarity of form and the subtle
humour - all these factors are still able to 'fascinate audiences in
the 1980s.'
Schlemmer had sensed that his abstract style was too avant-
garde for the dance world of his time. In 1931 he wrote: 'There
is no doubt that the present climate is averse to experiments.
However, if these experiments spring from an inner necessity
and are not merely following fashionable trends, then the exac
time of their realisation does not matter. For what are experi
ments if not the first step into the future?'12

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 OSKAR SCHLEMMER: MECHANICAL BALLETS?

NOTES

Lincoln Kirstein, Movement and Metaphor, London, Pitman, 1971, p.

2 Oskar Schlemmer, 'The Mathematics of the Dance', in The Bauhaus,
Wingler, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1978, p. 118
3 Ibid.
4 Walter Gropius, Introduction to The Theater of the Bauhaus ed. Walter Gropius,
Wesleyan University Press, 1961, p. 14
5 Oskar Schlemmer, op. cit., p. 118
" Oskar Schlemmer; 'Man and Art Figure', in The Theater of the Bauhaus, p. 28.
7 Ibid, p. 28.
x Oskar Schlemmer, 'The Mathematics of the Dance', p. 118
' Oskar Schlemmer, 'Man and Art Figure', p. 26
o Ibid., p. 27
l Review from National Zeitung (Basel), No. 196, 30 April 1929, reprinted in
Wingler (ed.), The Bauhaus, p. 157
12 Oskar Schlemmer, 'Misunderstandings', Schrifttanz, 4. Jahrgang, 1931 (trans-
lated by author).

BIBLIOGRAPHY

BAYER, Herbert, GROPIUS, Walter and GROPIUS, Ise, eds., Bau

1928 London, Secker and Warburg, 1979
DUBERMANN, Martin, Black Mountain: an Exploration in Communit
Wildwoodhouse, 1974
GOLDBERG, Rose Lee, Performance, London, Cox and Wyman, 197
GROPIUS, Walter, ed., The Theatre of the Bauhaus, Wesleyan Univer
1961

KALLAI, Ernst, 'From Ritual Dance to Cabaret', Schrifttanz 4 Jahrgang, June

1931

KIRSTEIN, Lincoln, Movement and Metaphor, London, Pitman, 1971

KISSELGOFF, Anna, 'They Created Dance Works at the Bauhaus, Too', New
York Times, 31 October 1982
KISSELGOFF, Anna, 'The Bauhaus Works were Prophetic', New York Times, 29
January 1984
PATTERSON, Michael, The Revolution in German Theatre, London, Routledge
and Kegan Paul, 1958
SCHEYER, Ernst, 'The Shapes of Space: the Arts of Mary Wigman and Oskar
Schlemmer', Dance Perspectives, 41, 1970
SCHLEMMER, Oskar, 'Misunderstandings', Schrifttanz, 4. Jahrgang, October
1931

SCHLEMMER, Tut, ed., Oskar Schlemmer: Briefe und Tagebucher, Munchen, 1958
SCHNEEDE, Uwe, ed., Die ZwanzigerJahre, Koln, Dumont, 1979
SZEEMANN, Harold, ed., Der Hangzum Gesamtkunstwerk, Aaran, Saverlaneder,
1983

WINGLER, Hans M., ed., Das Bauhaus, K61n, Dumont, 1975. Also translated
into English: The Bauhaus, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1978

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