THE ORIGINS OF EXPRESSIVE DANCE AND ITS CREATORS

German Expressive Dance (Ausdruckstanz) is strongly associated with the work of the outstanding German dancer Mary Wigman (1887-1973), whose activity took an important place in the art of the 20th century. The origins of the expressive dance are related to the legacy of E.J.Dalcroze and choreotics of R.Laban. Wigman accumulated their ideas and achieved the unique plastic appearance of her choreography being able to reveal the deep archetypical origins of the human psyche. Her ecstatic dances conveyed the features of ancient mystery cults and influenced the deep layers of human consciousness. A whole galaxy of her students developed the ideas of expressive dance. Her legacy has influenced the great European dancers and also the whole art movement of American modern dance. All these dancers had their creative path, but they were united by a new way of looking at the art of movement, reflecting on the metaphysics of the human body and space, and achieving deep awareness of motion.