Lot 634 N

The so-called “Frauentanz” is one of 11 pantomimic dances that were created as 'stage etudes' between 1926 and 1929 and performed as matinees on stages in Berlin and other cities in Germany as well as in Basel. Unlike the other dances (e.g., Raumtanz, Formtanz, Gestentanz), Schlemmer dispenses of abstract stage elements and the costumes typical of the Bauhaus in the five-and-a-half minute “Frauentanz”; only the puppet-like masks establish a connection to Schlemmer's other stage pieces. Three dancers, (Werner Siedhoff, Albert Mentzel and Edward Fisher), dressed as “ladies” in pseudo-historical costumes with crinolines and plumed hats parodistically demonstrate “female” behaviour exaggerated into the grotesque: on a stage whose only prop consists of three wooden boxes stacked to form a staircase, the “ladies” stride up and down, preen themselves, and prepare for a visit to the photographer.
Umbo documented the “Frauentanz” in Berlin in a series for the “Deutscher Photo-Dienst” (DEPHOT) (cf. Dirk Scheper, Oskar Schlemmer. Das Triadische Ballett und die Bauhausbühne, Berlin 1988, p. 201 with ill.).

Introduction "From the Bauhaus to Black Mountain College - Photography from a Swiss Private Collection" see lot 631