Stage Puppets.
Oskar Schlemmer and Kia LaBeija
31 Mar – 25 Sep 2022
Bauhaus Museum Dessau, Black Box +
Bauhaus Building, stage
The premiere of The Triadic Ballet, Oskar Schlemmer’s most successful stage project, took place in Stuttgart a hundred years ago on 30 September 1922. Originally conceived as a “redemption ballet” inspired by rhythmic gymnastics, it evolved into an experimental arrangement, a performative, speculative, and abstract exploration of how changes of shapes and movements might make a different way of being human conceivable. Especially in Dessau, Schlemmer integrated and further developed The Triadic Ballet and The Figural Cabinet (likewise devised in 1922) as part of his Bauhaus work and as a product of the stage workshop which he headed. Here, the costumes were more than just garments; Schlemmer’s figurines are costume-contraptions which limit everyday movements to encourage the invention of new patterns of motion liberated from conventions.
In the Intermezzo, a video installation of the performance (Untitled) The Black Act (2019) by Kia LaBeija (born 1990) enters into a dialogue with the historical documents about The Triadic Ballet. The New York-based choreographer and artist utilises The Triadic Ballet as a template for a new narrative about Black womanhood, queerness, and liberation.
To coincide with the Intermezzo at the Bauhaus Museum Dessau, reproductions of Oskar Schlemmer’s costumes and figurines will be displayed on the historical stage in the Bauhaus Building.
In cooperation with the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart
