In the first part of our symposium, Stepping Out of Line: The Liberated Body Between Art, Emancipation, and Politics in Modernism, we will discuss how dance and design have influenced each other, as well as how they have been inspired by the visual arts since 1900. Speakers will address the impact of women’s liberation, Orientalism in Europe, and the study of sexuality on modern dance. Specifically, they will explore how these factors have shaped the movement vocabulary of modern dance. Just as modern dance rejected ballet’s rigid structures, modern design rejected the formal language of historicism. Instead, modern design promoted freedom of movement and personal expression. Concurrently, modern dance incorporated design principles to create engaging and inspiring stage performances. The concept of the Gesamtkunstwerk (total work of art) evolved in dance and became the driving force of modernism. The focus is on how this close collaboration between the arts resulted in new forms of artistic expression, challenged cultural stereotypes, depicted fluid gender roles, and integrated utopian concepts into avant-garde dance and art movements.

In the second part of our symposium, Dance in Transition: The Future Body at the Intersection of Mythology, Anthropology, and Technology, speakers will discuss collaborations between choreographers and artists, choreographers and fashion designers, as well as the critical role of anthropology in redefining the avant-garde and discourse surrounding the “new human” in dance and design. This section will address cultural transfer processes and critical social issues within the context of twentieth century spectacle aesthetics. This discourse began in the 1940s and continues today. Specifically, speakers will discuss how dance shapes our awareness of cultural tensions, social change, and the need to address the promises and risks of globalization. The focus is on how active dialogue between the arts evolves into the driving force of cultural change and technological innovation, influencing our future physical and existential conditions.

Our goal is to raise awareness of the creative power that emerges at the intersection of dance, art, and design. We aim to demonstrate how these disciplines can work together to overcome cultural stereotypes and physical limitations, as well as awaken critical awareness of current social issues.

Concept and Co-Organisers: Elana Shapira & Anne-Katrin Rossberg

________

PROGRAMM

DONNERSTAG 17.9.2026

15.30 Uhr
Rainald Franz / Anne-Katrin Rossberg (MAK)
Führung durch die Ausstellung Vally Wieselthier. Bild und Ton / Ceramic Sculptor

16.45 Uhr
Keynote: Patricia Mears (Curator, New York)
From a Muse to a Woman of Style: How the Ballerina Danced Her Way into Modernity

FREITAG 18.9.2026

10.00 Uhr
Eröffnung
Lilli Hollein, Generaldirektorin und wissenschaftliche Geschäftsführerin, MAK
Ulrike Kuch, Rektorin der Universität für angewandte Kunst Wien

1. Sektion:
Aus der Reihe tanzen. Der befreite Körper zwischen Kunst, Emanzipation und Politik in der Moderne / Stepping Out of Line: The Freed Body Between Art, Emancipation, and Politics in Modernism
Moderation: Michael Hölters (MAK)

10.30 Uhr
Anne-Katrin Rossberg (MAK)
Der Tanz rund um die Wiener Werkstätte
Elana Shapira (Universität für angewandte Kunst Wien)
The Rebel Salomes: Vally Wieselthier, Gertrude Bodenwieser, and Hilde Holger

11.15 Uhr
Eike Wittrock (MUK – Musik und Kunst Privatuniversität der Stadt Wien)
Materialitäten und Sexualitäten. Der moderne Tänzer Joachim von Seewitz in Fotografien von Franz Xaver Setzer

11.45 Uhr
Diskussion

12.00 Uhr
Nicole Haitzinger (Paris-Lodron-Universität Salzburg)
Nyota Inyoka: Tanzkostüme als fabrizierte Träume einer künstlichen Haut in der Moderne

12.30 Uhr
Susan Funkenstein (University of Michigan)
Art, Dance, Design, and Gender at the Bauhaus Festivals

13.00–14.15 Uhr
Diskussion / Mittagspause

2. Sektion:
Tanz im Wandel: Der zukünftige Körper zwischen Mythologie, Anthropologie und Technologie / Dance in Transition: The Future Body at the Intersection of Mythology, Anthropology, and Technology
Moderation: Elana Shapira

14.30 Uhr
Natalie Ginsberg (Art historian, dancer, curator, New York)
In and On the Mythic Stage: Martha Graham and Isamu Noguchi’s Cave of the Heart (1946)

15.00 Uhr
Gabriele Klein (Universität Amsterdam)
Die materiale Ästhetik im Werk von Pina Bausch

15.30 Uhr
Tamara Tomic-Vajagic (University of Roehampton, London)
Topological Folding and Connective Affinities: The Work of Choreographer William Forsythe and Fashion Designer Issey Miyake

16.00 Uhr
Diskussion / Pause

16.30 Uhr
Emanuel Gollob (Kunstuniversität Linz)
Performativität in Begegnungen zwischen Mensch und Roboter

17.00 Uhr
Schlussbemerkungen Elana Shapira

A cooperation between the MAK and the University of Applied Arts Vienna, with the kind support of the City of Vienna and the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany.