The body of the people

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This comprehensive study examines dance and choreography in East Germany, exploring a national dance history from the establishment of the Communist state in 1949 to its collapse forty years later. Jens Richard Giersdorf investigates themes of nationhood, ideology, resistance, and diaspora through a blend of archival research, critical theory, personal narrative, and performance analysis. He delves into distinctive East German dance forms, such as mass exercise events, national folk dances, and Marxist-Leninist performances by military ensembles, alongside the vibrant amateur dance culture and socialist alternatives to rock ‘n’ roll. Giersdorf illustrates how dance served as both a corporeal utopia and a means of socialist propaganda. The study also highlights artists who critiqued state power through dance, including Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, Arila Siegert, and Fine Kwiatkowski. Furthermore, Giersdorf analyzes embodied responses to the Communist regime post-reunification, reflecting on the embodiment of the Berlin Wall's fall in the works of Jo Fabian and Sasha Waltz, as well as the diasporic influences of East German culture, notably through the Chilean choreographer Patricio Bunster.