Deutsches Tanzfilminstitut Bremen

Dancer, choreographer. One of the few personalities in post-war Germany who still trusted in the fundamentals of German expressive dance, choreographer Gerhard Bohner crossed it with the classical dance training he had learned from Tatjana Gsovsky.

Born in Karlsruhe in 1936, he had studied dance there and later in Mary Wigman’s studio in Berlin. After initial engagements in Mannheim and Frankfurt, he danced for 10 years at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, becoming a soloist there in 1964.

At the same time he began choreographing and made a name for himself with works such as “Spannen-Abschlaffen” and “Die Folterungen der Beatrice Cenci” with the participation of dancers such as Sylvia Kesselheim and Marion Cito. In addition, he devoted himself to reinterpreting Bauhaus member Oskar Schlemmer’s famous “Triadic Ballet” by questioning movement and line.

From 1972-1975 he directed the Tanztheater in Darmstadt and from 1978-1981, together with Reinhild Hoffmann, the Bremer Tanztheater.

From 1981 he worked freelance in Berlin, where he died in 1992. Twice he was awarded the German Critics’ Prize.

 

(Gabriele Wittmann)