For artists, exile often means leaving their work or parts of it behind. For example, the buildings of an architect remain immovable in the country they have turned their back on. The artistic medium of dancers, however, is essentially their own body for which choreographers or musicians create their work. Even if costumes and props are left behind, as soon as the dancer has arrived safely in exile, a part of his or her work is rescued.

When many dancers and choreographers emigrated between 1933 and 1945, Germany lost expressive dance almost completely. While in Nazi Germany artistically sophisticated dance was replaced increasingly by entertaining revues, expressive dance advanced in the USA to become German Dance and had a sustainable influence on the further development of Modern Dance as a whole. 

Nevertheless, those in the field of dance also experienced difficult working conditions in exile. Not having a work permit limited their ability to perform in public, and in countries like South America or cities like Shanghai, the dancers suffered physically from the excessive heat. German dancers found it hard to fit into the rows of girls in Broadway productions, as they often did not fulfil the beauty ideals of the producers. Despite this, the flexible art of dance still often managed to adapt successfully to the new production conditions and the number or dancers who returned from exile was accordingly small. In some cases, entire companies were able to emigrate, like the ballet of Kurt Jooss, which went on to have successful tours in Europe and the USA.

Life in exile was often accompanied by certain experiences of movement which the dancers worked into their art. Weeks spent on a ship that meant physical standstill stood in stark contrast to the fast rhythm of new cities. While the large city had already been a theme dealt with in Expressionism in Germany, it became relevant again in exile.

The art of dance played a particularly important role in the cultural identity of the young state of Israel. The ideal of self-expression embodied by Modern Dance went well with the Zionist dream of a new mankind. The physical freedom of dance symbolized the freedom of Eretz Israel. And Germany‘s Amateur Dance Movement went down well in the Kibbutzim, because it fit in ideally with the sense of community among the Jewish people.

Further reading:
Böhme, Hartmut / Huschka, Sabine: Prolog. In: Böhme, Hartmut / Huschka, Sabine (Hg.): Wissenskultur Tanz. Bielefeld: Transcript Verlag 2009, S. 7-25
Guilbert-Deguine, Laure: Tanz. In: Krohn, Hans-Dieter (Hg.): Handbuch der deutschsprachigen Emigration. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft 2008, S. 1103-1111
Hardt, Yvonne / Mahr, Kirsten: Zur Verortung des Tanzes im Spannungsfeld von Metropole und Provinz. Eine Einleitung. In: Hardt, Yvonne / Mahr, Kirsten (Hg.): Tanz. Metropole. Provinz. Münster: Lit Verlag 2007, S. 1-19