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Ernst Ludwig Kirchner’s “Totentanz der Mary Wigman” (1926-28). Wichtrach/Berne, Galerie Henze & Ketterer& Triebold |
Dance lovers will adore the new exhibition “Vivez la Danse” (“Dance Your Life”) at the Centre Pompidou, but even dance skeptics and the dance-indifferent will be …
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Ernst Ludwig Kirchner’s “Totentanz der Mary Wigman” (1926-28). Wichtrach/Berne, Galerie Henze & Ketterer& Triebold |
Dance lovers will adore the new exhibition “Vivez la Danse” (“Dance Your Life”) at the Centre Pompidou, but even dance skeptics and the dance-indifferent will be fascinated by this splendidly displayed and well-thought-out mega-exhibition, which succeeds in animating the links between dance and modern and contemporary art.
This is not one of those exhibitions that stretches for connections between art forms. The mutual inspiration between dance and the visual arts – with choreographers using the stage as a canvas and artists trying to capture movement in their paintings, drawings, sculpture, installations, etc. – is real and well documented here (“The dancers inspired my paintings,” said Expressionist painter Emil Nolde,” “and they in turn likely inspired the dancers”). And then, of course, there is the crossover genre of performance art. It’s all here, including an ongoing program of performances by the likes of Trisha Brown.
Visitors are plunged right into the theme at the beginning of the exhibition, where a human being writhes wormlike on the floor near Matisse’s monumental painting “La Danse de Paris” (1931-33) as part of Tino Sehgal’s installation “instead of allowing some thing to rise up to your face dancing bruce and dan and other things” (2002). Then we are taken back to the origins of modern dance with film and images of pioneering dancers Isadora Duncan and Vaslav Nijinsky, along with their representations by artists of the day, including Auguste Rodin and Antoine Bourdelle. While that well-trod material may be familiar to many visitors, especially those who have seen recent exhibitions on the subject at the Musée Rodin and Musée Bourdelle, there are lots of discoveries to be made here for non-experts. It would be hard to find a more avant-garde dancer than German Expressionist dancer Mary Wigman, for example, whom I had never heard of before, yet her choreography for “Witch Dance,” shown here, was created in 1914. We learn in the exhibition that she later collaborated with the Nazis, who embraced dance in a big way.
Among the many highlights are Sonia Delaunay’s successful attempt to “make colors dance” in the painting “Le Bal Bullier” (1913); the wildly colorful Expressionist paintings of dancers by Nolde and Ernst Ludwig Kirchner; Alexander Calder’s wire sculpture of Josephine Baker, which captures the sheer joy of her dancing (as seen in a film shown next to it); a film of Jackson Pollock in one of his performance-like drip-painting spells; William Forsythe’s brilliant instructional film, “Lectures from Improvisation Technologies” (2011), based on Rudolf von Laban’s theories on the geometry of movement; Nicolas Schöffer’s magical reflective-silver cybernetic sculpture, “Chronos 8” (1967), complete with light show (wait long enough to see it in movement). There is much, much more, however, so make sure you allow enough time to see everything and watch some of the films and videos.
You may not leave this entertaining show light on your feet and ready to trip the light fantastic – it’s far too huge and tiring – but you will be light of heart.
Centre Pompidou: 19, rue Beaubourg, 75004 Paris. Tel.: 01 44 78 12 33. Open 11am-9pm. Closed Tuesday. Métro: Rambuteau. Admission: €12. Through April 2. www.centrepompidou.fr
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