Insight #9: Jean Weidt / Masks of Resistance

Jean Weidt (1904–1988), also known as the “Red Dancer,” commissioned several masks for his 1931 choreography Under the Bridges of Paris; these masks are now housed in the Dance Archive at the Leipzig University Library. The expressive face masks by the Jewish artist Erich Goldstaub (murdered in Auschwitz in 1943/44) convey the suffering of the homeless.

Weidt presented this choreography in several versions throughout his life, both during his exile in France and later in East Germany. As an expressionist dancer and homosexual, however, he faced hostility from the cultural authorities there, who accused his dance of formalism and consequently severely restricted his work opportunities. Nevertheless, at the Komische Oper in Berlin, he was able to pass on important impulses of expressionist dance to the next generation with his group of young dancers.

The exhibition is part of the research project “Cultural Heritage of Dance in the GDR” at the Institute for Theatre Studies. Admission is free.