Hitler's Dancers: German Modern Dance and the Third Reich

Description

The Nazis burned books and banned much modern art. However, few people know the fascinating story of German modern dance, which was the great exception. Modern expressive dance found favor with the regime and especially with the infamous Dr. Joseph Goebbels, the Minister of Propaganda. How modern artists collaborated with Nazism reveals an important aspect of modernism, uncovers the bizarre bureaucracy which controlled culture and tells the histories of great figures who became enthusiastic Nazis and lied about it later. The book offers three perspectives: the dancer Lilian Karina writes her very vivid personal story of dancing in interwar Germany; the dance historian Marion Kant gives a systematic account of the interaction of modern dance and the totalitarian state, and a documentary appendix provides a glimpse into the twisted reality created by Nazi racism, pedantic bureaucrats and artistic ambition. Hitler’s Dancers Contents Foreword Preface PART I. RECOLLECTIONS Introduction Chapter 1. A Historical Overview of the Labanist Period Chapter 2. Art and Culture under National Socialism Chapter 3. Sectarianism and Dance Chapter 4. The Fates of Emigrants Chapter 5. The Situation in Scandinavia Chapter 6. Laban’s Downfall and Post-Labanism Notes PART II “DANCE IS A RACE QUESTION.” Introduction CHAPTER 7. The Reich Ministry of Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda CHAPTER 8. The Nazi Redirection of Dance CHAPTER 9. Ministerial Dance Politicos—Rudolf von Laban and Otto von Keudell CHAPTER 10. The German Dance Theater and the German Master Workshops CHAPTER 11. The Next Stage CHAPTER 12. After Laban’s Fall Postscript Notes Part II PART III. THE NAZI ATTEMPT TO SUPPRESS JAZZ AND SWING Jazz, Swing and the Nazis Notes Part III PART IV. DANCE UNDER THE NAZIS Appendix Chronology Abbreviations and Glossary Bibliography Index