The stage in the Bauhaus building in Dessau was “originally meant to be a platform for lectures as well as a stage for performances on a limited scale”. Technically, it was not especially well equipped, although something else could have been expected of a stage in the Bauhaus sense. Spatially, it connected the auditorium with the canteen behind the stage, so that the space could be adapted and the audience seated on both sides. In the first issue of the magazine “bauhaus”, Oskar Schlemmer wrote: “having two stage fronts and no back wall makes the centre of the stage more important and forces a three-dimensionality of play, which has innovative effects on both the physical movements and the word and sound acoustics.“ This investigation of the space and of the movement of the human body within it was what Schlemmer explored with the “Bauhaus Dances”.
A photograph by the Bauhausler Erich Consemüller takes a look at the open-plan stage space and everyday life in the stage workshop: “Photographing from the auditorium, Consemüller succeeded in conveying an authentic image of the work atmosphere in the stage workshop. In contrast to the photographs of the stage scenes, where the order and pose of the actors was often predetermined by Schlemmer, all of the participants can be seen here as they pursue their activities: Schlemmer is in conversation with Werner Siedhoff, one of his actors. Weininger is rehearsing at the grand piano, and Heinz Loew is checking a spotlight. A curious outsider is watching as this happens."
[NO 2017, Translation: RW]
