Dance festival of the GDR

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The dance festival of the GDR was from 1955 to 1989, a first amateur dance event series in Rudolstadt had that increasingly more professional performances in the program. After the first folk group appeared in 1983 , a folk and world music festival developed from it - especially from 1989 .

history

The Thuringian city ​​of Rudolstadt has a courtly music tradition, which was remembered in the 1920s and 1930s with the "historical music festivals". When the GDR looked for a venue for a folk dance festival in the mid-1950s, the choice fell on Rudolstadt, not so much because of the music festivals, but more because Rudolstadt was centrally located from a pan-German point of view and remained without war damage.

The "1. Festival of German Folk Dance ”took place from June 24th to 26th, 1955. 3000 dance enthusiasts in 110 groups from the eastern part of Germany and 47 groups from the western part took part. The three venues were the Heidecksburg castle courtyard (where the opening also took place), the Rudolstadt market square and an open-air stage on the Anger . The festival should set a sign of the inseparability of German culture and be an East-West expression of the will of Germany's unity . In addition, it was intended as a counterweight to "American unculture". The “Working Group for German Folk Dance Care and Research” was formed through discussions with one another. There were lectures and open discussions on topics such as dance technique, historical development, social tasks, relationships between art forms or between laypeople and professional artists.

On September 1 and 2, 1956, the “2. Festival of German Folk Dance ", organized by the" Working Group for German Folk Dance Care and Research "with the support of the City Council of Rudolstadt. The number of participants was again 3000. In addition to folk dancers, many educators and researchers were also present. The scenes were again the Heidecksburg, the idyllic streets and squares, the market and the Anger. An accompanying exhibition highlighted the development and diversity of popular artistic creation. The actual festival was preceded by two study days, the purpose of which was to help researchers, folk dance teachers and group leaders from both parts of Germany to make progress by exchanging experiences and openly discussing general and specific problems in dance work.

The "4. Festival of German Folk Dance ”in July 1958 was used for propaganda . For this purpose the Friedrich Hofmeister Musikverlag published manuscript prints of politically connoted example dances on behalf of the Zentralhaus für Volkskunst . The themes of many of the dances and mass choreographies performed were socialism , the cooperatives , western armament , Hiroshima and the trouble spots Algeria and Palestine . Each of the topics stood of course for the global peace efforts of the GDR and of all "people fighting for peace". A torchlight procession against the allegedly threatening danger of war and a communiqué "against the death and ruin of important NATO politics" concluded the dance festival.

3,000 participants from the GDR and 700 from the FRG , about as many as in the previous year, took part in the “5. Festival of German Folk Dance ”in mid-July 1960. On the first two days of the festival, a conference of lay workers from the GDR was held in Rudolstadt-Schwarza .

1961 took place on the occasion of the 3rd Workers Festival on the weekend of 17./18. June a dance festival in Wernigerode . For Rudolstadt only "Rudolstädter Musiktage" have been recorded for this year.

Renamed to "1. Festival of song and dance at the district level ”, the event was not continued until 1963. Folkworld.de said: "The self-walling of the GDR let the fair grown festival wither into a 'festival of song and dance at district level'." In 1964, a "meeting of dance groups" was reported as part of the 6th workers' festival in the Gera district . The show made a contribution to the "Olympics of Folk Art".

Heinz Zschiegener, chairman of the working committee of the dance festivals, slowly rebuilt the festival to its old size in the mid-1960s. The Ministry of Culture , the Central House for Cultural Work of the GDR , the Council of the Gera District and the Council of the City of Rudolstadt supported it as permanent sponsors .

In July 1965 the “1. Dance and music festival of the Gera district ”on the stage. It was a "great performance comparison" of the dance groups on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the liberation from fascism and the 10th anniversary of the first folk dance festival in Rudolstadt. The "2. Dance and Music Festival of the Gera District ”(June 3–5, 1966) had many wind orchestras in the program, including their performance comparison. Exactly one year later the “3rd Dance and Music Festival of the Gera District ”with around 4,000 participants and over 80,000 visitors. The fourth edition of the festival (May 31 - June 2, 1968) focused on children's dance . The sale of badges and programs was a not inconsiderable item of income. The 1969 now simply called “GDR Dance Festival”, but retained the previous count (hence “5th Dance Festival”), marked the 20th anniversary of the GDR.

In the late 1960s, dance groups from the Eastern Bloc were invited. The new internationality enhanced the festival, but also revealed that the Slavs were more spirited dancers with more colorful costumes and more furious choreographies, which led to annoyance among the heads of state and, as a result, to directives regarding opening up to guest performances.

For the 6th dance festival in the GDR in June 1970, the following slogans were issued: “We honor Lenin by being useful” and “Our love, our art in the GDR, our socialist fatherland”.

The 8th dance festival held in 1972 included, for the first time, official performance comparisons of the dance groups with the award of diplomas and medals. This was accompanied by higher requirements, which represented a participation hurdle. The performance comparisons concerned the adult groups in the GDR and the dance groups in the music schools in the GDR. In addition, benchmarking were the fanfare , Spielmanns- and marching bands of the district Gera as well as the Diskjokeys [sic] carried out. At the 9th dance festival of the GDR (May 31 - June 3, 1974) younger age groups had their turn. 18 children's stage dance groups competed in the central performance comparison. Ballet soloists from the German State Opera and the Komische Oper Berlin organized a gala soiree in the culture house of the Schwarza chemical workers . And there was an appearance by Dean Reed . The New Germany wrote: "The ideas of all dances and programs were carried by the beauty of life in a socialist society, friendship with peace-loving people and solidarity with all peoples struggling for their freedom."

The motto of the 10th dance festival in the GDR from July 4th to 6th 1975 was "30 victorious years in socialism". It was supposed to be both a performance show and accountability and a socialist folk festival. In addition, it was decided to show the diversity and beauty of the dance. The spectrum of fun even extended to one item on the program “ Rock around the market fountain”. For the 11th dance festival of the GDR from July 1st to 3rd, 1977 the slogan was issued: "Time has a red star ." - a "two-day evaluation" by officials at, organizers and contributors. The emerging concept of opening up to neighboring music and trade areas (“dance, music and song market”) was found to be effective and continued.

The 1983 dance festival offered a special feature, as the first folk music group, the Folkländers Bierfiedler , performed here , to which the Kreuz & Square dance group danced and encouraged the bystanders to join in. Between this 14th and the following 15th dance festival, the “1. Rudolstädter Folklore-Tour “, which from then on was repeated annually. Ten folklorists trundled through the district on two horse-drawn carts for a week with a swarm of dance enthusiasts, two magicians, some artisans and organizational staff , spreading vagabond mood and playing in the evening in the respective village inn to dance.

The 15th dance festival of the GDR in 1985 made the change to professionalism clear by being part of the “III. Festival of popular artistic creation in the socialist countries ”. Dance ensembles from Bulgaria, the ČSSR, Poland, Romania, Hungary and the Soviet Union competed. The GDR delegated nine of their best dance collectives . The dance theater ensemble of the Komische Oper Berlin organized a ballet gala. In 1987 the 16th dance festival had 1,400 participants. In addition to 13 folk art collectives from twelve districts dancing in competition, there were 50 individual performances by soloists. In addition, dance classes from local music academies and ensembles from the six socialist countries that had been there before were guests.

The 17th and last dance festival was for the weekend June 30th / 1st. Scheduled for July 1989. With the collapse of the GDR in autumn, the "honest folk costume dance festivals", which also included a guild street for craftsmen based in Thuringia, the wedding dance festival and, above all, the final large parade, were history.

Since the proportion of folk - albeit at a low level - had increased and there were good contacts to the GDR folk scene, especially the Leipzig Folk Club, this area took over the predominance or sole rule after the fall of the Wall and transformed the dance festival into a dance and folk festival, the today the name "Rudolstadt Festival" bears to. World music is now also on offer .

List of dance festivals

The sources speak differently of 24 or 25 dance festivals. No evidence could be provided for the organization of a dance festival between 1960 and 1963, so 24 can be assumed.

1955 01st festival of German folk dance 24.-26. June
1956 02nd festival of German folk dance 1st – 2nd September
1957 03rd festival of German folk dance 28-29 September
1958 04th festival of German folk dance 17th to 20th July
1960 05th festival of German folk dance 14.-17. July
1963 01. Festival of song and dance at the district level Date cannot be determined
1964 Meeting of the dance groups as part of the 6th Workers' Festival
in the Gera district (exact title cannot be determined)		 19. – 21. June
1965 01st dance and music festival in the Gera district July, exact date cannot be determined
1966 02nd dance and music festival in the Gera district 3rd to 5th June
1967 03rd dance and music festival in the Gera district 2-4 June
1968 04th dance and music festival in the Gera district May 31st - June 2nd
1969 05th dance festival of the GDR 6-8 June
1970 06th dance festival of the GDR 5th-7th June
1971 07th dance festival of the GDR 18.-20. June
1972 08th dance festival of the GDR 1st - 4th June
1974 09th dance festival of the GDR May 31st - June 3rd
1975 10th dance festival of the GDR 4th-6th July
1977 11th dance festival of the GDR 1st - 3rd July
1979 12th dance festival of the GDR 6-8 July
1981 13th dance festival of the GDR 3rd to 5th July
1983 14th dance festival of the GDR 10-12 June
1985 15th dance festival of the GDR 5th-7th July
1987 16th dance festival of the GDR 19. – 21. June
1989 17th dance festival of the GDR June 30th - July 1st

literature

(as far as can be determined)

  • Festival of the German Folk Dance Rudolstadt 1955 (= study material for folk dance ; booklet 1). Central House for Folk Art (ed.). Friedrich Hofmeister Musikverlag, Leipzig 1955.
  • II. Festival of German Folk Dance from 1st – 2nd September 1956 in Rudolstadt. Responsible for the content: Wilhelm Kunze. Fischer, Berlin 1956.
  • Folk and lay dance in the socialist folk art movement. Report on the workshop on questions of the development of a socialist folk art movement in the field of dance. Rudolstadt, 26.-27. September 1957 (= study material for folk dance ; Book 2). Central House for Folk Art, Dept. Dance (ed.). Central House for Folk Art, Leipzig 1957.
  • IV. Festival of German Folk Dance in Rudolstadt. A report on the II. Workshop of the Central Working Group for Folk and Laient Dance and the Rudolstadt Festival in 1958 (= study material for folk dance ; Book 4). Central House for Folk Art, Dept. of Dance, in cooperation with the Central Working Group for Folk and Laient Dance of the GDR (publisher). Central House for Folk Art, Leipzig 1958.
  • V. Festival of German Folk Dance. Rudolstadt 14.-17. July 1960 (= study material for folk dance ; issue 7). Central House for Folk Art (ed.). Central House for Folk Art, Leipzig 1960.
  • III. Rudolstadt dance and music festival. June 2-4, 1967. Festschrift . Edited by the Central House for Cultural Work of the GDR, Leipzig, Preparatory Committee of the III. Dance and music festival, Rudolstadt, editor: Norbert Molkenbur. Rudolstadt 1967.
  • 12th dance festival of the GDR [conference publication]. District cabinet for cultural work, Gera. Gera 1979.
  • 13th dance festival of the GDR [conference publication]. District cabinet for cultural work, Gera. Gera 1981.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Ernst Wollong : 2nd Historical Music Festival in Rudolstadt at Heidecksburg Castle Whitsun 1926 . Festschrift. Ed .: Musikgemeinde EB Rudolstadt (=  The German music evenings and historical music festivals in Rudolstadt ). The Greifenverlag zu Rudolstadt, Rudolstadt 1926.
  2. ^ Thuringian Symphony Orchestra. The orchestra of the former royal residence in Rudolstadt in Schwarzburg is one of the oldest in Germany . In: Thuringian State Theater Rudolstadt, Thuringian Symphony Orchestra, Saalfeld-Rudolstadt GmbH (ed.): We could do a lot if we stood together . No. 2017/2018 , 2017, p. 64 ( theater-rudolstadt.de [PDF; 6.0 MB ; accessed on June 5, 2018]).
  3. ^ A b c Wolfgang Leyn: Verfolktes Tanzfest. Rudolstadt - world music instead of traditional ballet . In: People's Song and Father State. The GDR folk scene 1976–1990 . With contributions by Ralf Gehler and Reinhard Ständer. 1st edition. Christoph Links Verlag, Berlin 2016, ISBN 978-3-86153-874-5 , Why Rudolstadt of all places ?, p. 171-176 .
  4. ↑ a b c d A Decade of Folk. TFF.Rudolstadt. In: folkworld.de. November 2007, accessed June 5, 2018 .
  5. ↑ a b c Hanna Walsdorf: Moving Propaganda. Political instrumentalization of folk dance in the German dictatorships . Königshausen & Neumann, Würzburg 2010, ISBN 978-3-8260-4259-1 , chapter 4.4. Dance festivals and performance shows, p. 226-236 .
  6. ↑ a b c Central House for Folk Art (ed.): Festival of German Folk Dance Rudolstadt 1955 (=  study material for folk dance . Book 1). Friedrich Hofmeister Musikverlag, Leipzig 1955, foreword and the following pages.
  7. ↑ (ADN): 2nd festival of German folk dance . In: New Germany . No. 193/1956 , August 14, 1956, pp. 4 .
  8. ^ Hanna Walsdorf: Moving Propaganda. Political instrumentalization of folk dance in the German dictatorships . Königshausen & Neumann, Würzburg 2010, ISBN 978-3-8260-4259-1 , chapter 4.4. Dance festivals and performance shows, p. 226–236 , here footnote 855 on p. 230 (the Karlsruhe Virtual Catalog shows another such dance).
  9. ^ Günther Fuchs: Folk dance with a new topic . In: New Germany . No. 175/1958 , July 24, 1958, pp. 4 .
  10. ↑ (ADN / BZ): We report from the 3rd Workers' Festival. West German guests for the weekend. 1st prize for amateur film by the EAW Treptow studio . In: Berliner Zeitung . No. 167/1961 , June 19, 1961, pp. 2 .
  11. ↑ Horst Richter: 75,000 experienced the dance festival. For the first time amateur artists in the GDR danced a classical ballet: The Fontaine Bachtschissarai . In: New Germany . No. 169/1961 , June 21, 1961, pp. 4 .
  12. ↑ Review of the Rudolstädter Musiktage 1961. In: uni-jena.de. Retrieved June 5, 2018 .
  13. ^ Leaflet Tanz- und Musikfest Rudolstadt 1966. 3. – 5. June. Festive sequence .
  14. ↑ a b c W. H .: danced joy of life. 4500 dancers from the GDR met in Rudolstadt . In: New Germany . No. 152/1974 , June 4, 1974, pp. 4 .
  15. ^ Concert at the 9th Rudolstadt Dance and Music Festival. July 1974. In: deanreed.de. May 15, 2014, accessed June 5, 2018 .
  16. ^ Dance and Folk Festival in Rudolstadt. In: saale-online.de. Netz aktiv AG, accessed on June 5, 2018 .
  17. ↑ a b c d Rudolstadt - "City of Dance Festivals" 1955–1989. In: rudolstadt-festival.de. City of Rudolstadt, accessed on June 5, 2018 .
  18. ↑ (ND-Korr.): Rudolstadt: Prelude for the 15th dance festival of the GDR . In: New Germany . No. 156/1985 , July 6, 1985, pp. 10 .
  19. ^ Chronicle of the GDR 1987. In: ddr-lexikon.de. iportale GmbH, accessed on June 5, 2018 .
  20. ↑ Christoph Dieckmann: Great Folk Desire. Once a year little Rudolstadt becomes the world metropolis of folk music. You have to love it. In: zeit.de. July 13, 2014, accessed June 5, 2018 .
  21. ↑ Wolfgang Leyn: GDR folk scene from A to Z. A lexicon . In: People's Song and Father State. The GDR folk scene 1976–1990 . With contributions by Ralf Gehler and Reinhard Ständer. 1st edition. Christoph Links Verlag, Berlin 2016, ISBN 978-3-86153-874-5 , Tanzfest Rudolstadt, p. 263-308 .