About BARBARA METTLER

BARBARA METTLER A Dancer's History Autobiographical Sketch 1 Page 2 of 7 I graduated from college in June,1928, totally lost as far as personal direction was concerned. Not having been able to major in dance or music, I majored in English, believing that it might be of some value somehow. So little interested was I in my English studies that I almost failed to graduate, although I received A's in most of my music courses. I had originally planned to attend music school, but when college was over I wanted no more school studies of any kind. Hoping to learn to write professionally, I found a job on an advertising magazine published by Marshall Field & Company in Chicago. My wish was to write about music, and my most satisfying piece of work on the magazine was an interview with Frederick Stock, conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. One evening an elderly musician friend took me to a dance performance by Irma Duncan's group. It was a bombshell for me. I knew that dance was my field, and that I was ready to follow the Duncan dancers to Moscow. My respected friend told me that I was too old, that one must begin dance training at the age of nine. I believed him, and the door was closed on the thing I really wanted. I continued my work on the magazine. In the summer of 1930 I vacationed with a friend in Europe. This friend was interested in ballet dancing and took me to visit dance schools. We visited the Mary Wigman school in Berlin which she found not at all to her liking but was another bombshell for me. This time all the walls fell down. I knew that I could and must study dance and that, if I could have just one year at this school, my life would have some meaning. I came back to the States and with great difficulty rearranged my affairs, gathering together enough money for one year at the Mary Wigman Central Institute of Dance in Dresden. In the spring of 1931 I arrived in Munich for some introductory work with a student of Mary Wigman, then went on to the Wigman summer school in Dresden. In the fall I began the three- year professional course leading to a diploma. I realized immediately that one year would not be sufficient and that I must graduate from this school. With only enough money for 1 year, I stayed for more than two. This meant that I was very poor, but so was all of Dresden and Germany. As a dance student I must have shown some facility because I was advanced rather quickly, completing the course in time to graduate in June, 1933. I danced in performances outside the school, played percussion instruments over the radio, accompanied children's classes at the piano, and was sometimes called upon to teach dance classes. I worked very hard, stuffing the starved dancer in me with much more than I could possibly digest. There were classes in which we practiced routine exercises, derived from ballet or from Rudolf von Laban's work, always accompanied by a musician improvising at the piano. At times we were given themes for improvisation or composition. Our teacher sometimes improvised movements while we tried to copy them. We had lessons in rhythm and the use of percussion instruments. There was a course called Pedagogy for which I was in no way ready. On occasional Saturday evenings we were expected to show dances for Mary Wigman's criticism. Mary was frequently away so she did not teach us very often. When she did she expressed great power both as artist and a educator. <<< previous next >>>