Mitsuru Sasaki is (along with Susanne Linke) one of the two main choreographers of the Folkwang-Tanzstudio. For years, the Japanese Sasaki studied and danced in the “Buto” style with maestro Kazuo Ohno. In 1980, in Paris, he met Susanne Linke, who, impressed by his talent, invited him to work for the Folkwang-Tanzstudio in Essen. In Germany, Sasaki danced in various choreographies by Susanne Linke, while continuing to work as a choreographer. Although he grew up in the tradition of “Buto” dance, Sasaki defines himself, professionally, above all as a creature of the Folkwang-Hochschule. There he studied classical and modern dance with teachers such as Jean Cébron, Hans Züllig and Brian Bertscher. In Sasaki’s choreographies today, the use of Western dance vocabulary is explicit; but his original Japanese culture remains equally visible and strong. In this interesting fusion of atmospheres and languages, Sasaki represents, in his own way, a “bridge” between German Expressionism and Japanese Expressionism (Kazuo Ohno: who, in turn, was greatly influenced by the Germans Mary Wigman and Harald Kreutzberg).
The Folkwang-Tanzstudio is an offshoot of the Folkwang-Hochschule in Essen, a school that has played a very important role in the history of dance in Germany. Two great protagonists of the contemporary German “Tanztheater”, Pina Bausch and Reinhild Hoffmann, studied and worked there. During the 1910s and 1920s, American “modern dance” was greatly influenced by German expressionist dance, whose greatest point of reference was precisely the Folkwang-Hochschule. The choreographer Kurt Jooss – one of the most important creators of 20th century dance – took over the direction of the school’s Dance Department in 1927. Through Jooss, Rudolf Laban’s choreographic and kinetic theories became the basis of the teaching practiced at the school. From Laban’s doctrine – which he developed alongside the great expressionist dancer Mary Wigman – a new line of research began, oriented towards the analysis of everyday movement and the representation of social themes. For the first time, dance art found its foundation in “Realism”: a hard, angular stylistic projection of everyday experiences onto the stage. Some of Jooss’s most important choreographies, such as “The Green Table” and “Big City”, are very representative of this style. Jooss created these works with the Folkwang-Tanztheater founded in 1928, which later became the Folkwang-Tanzbühne, and which is today the Folkwang-Tanzstudio. In 1933 Jooss emigrated to England, where he continued to work until his return to Germany in 1949. In the same year he resumed the direction of the Dance Department at the Folkwang-Hochschule.
Norbert Servos
