The Incredible Costumed Geometry of the 1922 Bauhaus Era ‘Triadic Ballet’ by Oskar Schemmler

Great Big Story visited with the incredibly talented choreographer and master ballet dancer Ivan Liška to talk about dance during the Bauhaus Movement during early-mid 20th Century Germany. They specifically focused on the highly distinctive, costumed geometric style of the “Triadic Ballet” developed by Oskar Schlemmer in 1922.

The Bauhaus Movement produced more than just minimalist buildings and furniture; it also gave way to a dance of geometry. In his 1922 “Triadic Ballet,” prodigious artist Oskar Schlemmer stripped away the genre’s archetypally fluid movements and fabrics, placing his dancers in structural yet jovial costumes.

In 2016, the dancers of Bayerisches Junior Ballet München performed an incredible recreation of Oskar Schlemmer’s original “Triadic Ballet“.

Here’s some remarkable archival footage of a 1926 performance of “The Triad Ballet”