The Absolute Dance: Female Dancers in the Weimar Republic, exhibition, Georg Kolbe Museum, Berlin, Germany, April–October 2021.
A broken, demoralized, and impoverished nation seeks oblivion in dance.
—Klaus Mann
Presenting numerous photographs, films, sculptures, and drawings, as well as sketches, quotations, and posters from various institutions, private collections, and legacies, Der absolute Tanz [The Absolute Dance] sheds new light on the work of eleven female artists: Valeska Gert, Anita Berber, Hertha Feist, Vera Skoronel, Berthe Trümpy, Charlotte Bara, Tatjana Barbakoff, Claire Bauroff, Jo Mihaly, Oda Schottmüller, and Celly de Rheidt. The exhibition was installed at the former studio of the sculptor and painter Georg Kolbe where the artist lived and worked in the 1920s, 30s, and 40s. Nowadays, it serves as an exhibition space for contemporary arts and sculpture. Kolbe passionately followed dance, and two of his best-known works depict dancers: a sculpture from 1911–12 and a series of...