Dive into the mesmerizing world of dance. Dance — it’s fleeting. A moment, gone in the blink of an eye. But does it truly disappear, or does it leave a trace behind? Memories. Ripples of movement that linger long after the music fades.
Take Sigurd Leeder, for example. A self-taught, expressive genius. He danced his way across international stages, leaving marks not just in theater spaces but in the very fabric of expressive dance itself. Imagine this autodidact, mastering the art of body movement, crafting a language of motion that said more than words could.
The exhibition—now past, yet alive in memory—was a collaborative masterpiece at Kunsthalle Appenzell in collaboration with the Museum für Gestaltung Zürich, and the Swiss Dance Archive. Through their efforts, and with me behind the graphics, Leeder's legacy was vividly realized. Every detail. Every story. Every step curated to tell a larger narrative of creativity, resilience, and the art of expression.
And the graphics?A puzzle I assembled to mirror his artistry—lines that dart, curve, and flow, never at rest. Like him. Like dance. It was a playful challenge.
Sigurd Leeder wasn’t just a dancer. He was a trailblazer, carving pathways into the world of expressive dance, long before “expressive” became an industry buzzword. His work? A reminder that even though dance may be ephemeral, its echoes—its traces—reverberate forever.
Expressive dance. Sigurd Leeder. A legacy that refuses to stand still.
Photograph from the Leporello
Sigurd Leeder teaches choreutics in the spatial model of the icosahedron at the Folkwang School in Essen, 1930
Photographer unknown © Swiss Dance Archives, Sigurd Leeder