Bodies in Color, Black and White, and in Piles: The Dichotomy of Concentration Camp Aesthetics and Somatic Dance Practices in Sasha Waltz's Screendance Körper (2000)

This article analyzes scenes from the screendance Körper (Body, Sasha Waltz, 2000)1-choreographed by Sasha Waltz and filmed by Jörg Jeshel and Brigitte Kramer. While Waltz's piece Dialoge 99, choreographed with the kinesthetic experience of Berlin's Jewish Museum, played a large role in shaping Körper's aesthetic, the filmmakers draw stylistically from juxtaposing color and black and white shots as well as the theme of piles from Night and Fog (Alain Resnais, 1955)2 in the screendance. Körper occupies a dichotomous aesthetic-by engaging with concentration camp-like treatment of human bodies and paradoxically highlighting consensual experimentation with bodily materiality and building on somatic practices.