Wigman, Mary (1886-1973)

German dancer and choreographer. She was a pioneer of the Ausdruckstanz school of modern dance. She was noted for her solos exploring the darker, melancholic sides of human nature. Much of her movements were angular and distorted, tending towards the ground rather than balletic elevation.

Wigman studied eurythmics with Emile Jaques-Dalcroze and later became Rudolf von Laban's assistant during World War I. Some of her early compositions were performed in silence to assert dance's independence from music.