Training

Gret Palucca (1902-1993) was one of the leading lights in the German expressive dance movement which flourished during the 1920s and 1930s. Due to her lightness of touch and, not least, her positive attitude, her dances were notable for their powerful affirmation of life and for their charm, gracefulness and musicality.

Palucca did not create dances on specific themes; instead, the movements always evolved in response to a specific piece of music and were "free from content and symbols". "The aim is not to interpret the music … The dance itself is always the primary force. Its internal form coalesces with the internal form of the music… This creates a duality in unity, and that, for me, is modern dance", said Palucca in 1934.

The early years

Gret Palucca first opened her school in Dresden in 1925, but due to her "half-Jewish" descent, the Nazis closed it down in 1939. At the end of the war in 1945, her energies undiminished, Palucca reopened the school and began teaching again. In 1949, in an agreement between Palucca and the state government of Saxony, the Palucca Schule was nationalised and was granted the status of a technical school for the teaching of professional dance. But it was not long before Palucca found herself embroiled in protracted disputes with the GDR's culture commissars over the School's artistic focus. Palucca demanded that her new expressive dance and modern dance techniques should be given as much priority as classical ballet, which had a strong tradition in the Soviet Union, the GDR's close ally. It took many years of determined struggle before the GDR regime finally acceded to her demand.

Since its early years, the Palucca Schule has produced many famous artistes. Its graduates include the choreographer and (opera) director Ruth Berghaus, the leading GDR choreographer Harald Wandtke, the dancer Marianne Vogelsang, the dancer and choreographer Arila Siegert, and the choreographer Stephan Thoss, who headed the Thoss Dance Company at Hanover State Opera until 2006.

Principles of training

Classical Dance

Guest choreographers and students from all over the world

The Palucca Schule takes students from the age of ten. The degree programme in theatre dance lasts four or eight years. The School also offers a four-year diploma course in dance teaching studies, as well as two-year postgraduate programmes in choreography and dance teaching studies.

Rehearsel

Palucca Tanz Studio, set up in 2002, is the dance project for final-year students, who work with guest choreographers and teachers from the Palucca Schule to produce one or two original pieces which are then performed in theatres in Dresden and in the wider region.

The Palucca Schule joined the interdisciplinary study programme D.A.N.C.E. (Dance Apprentice Network aCross Europe) in 2006. The aim is to familiarise students with the diverse range of modern interdisciplinary techniques and opportunities, to prepare them for working life in a dance ensemble, to give them a deeper understanding of modern art, and to help them build up a network of contacts. The two-year programme includes classes and workshops in other disciplines (architecture, film, philosophy), creative processes and performance, and is run under the artistic leadership of Frédéric Flamand, William Forsythe, Wayne McGregor and Angelin Preljocaj. D.A.N.C.E. has 29 partner institutions in 17 countries, including the four companies of the associated artists.

Jason Beechey