Bernhard Wosien
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Bernhard Wosien (19 September 1908, in Passenheim, Masuren29 April 1986, Munich) was a German
Ballet master A ballet master (also balletmaster, ballet mistress, ''premier maître de ballet'' or ''premier maître de ballet en chef'') is an employee of a ballet company who is responsible for the level of competence of the dancers in their company. In mo ...
,
choreographer Choreography is the art of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which Motion (physics), motion or Visual appearance, form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A chor ...
and professor of expression education and dance. Wosien is the founder of the modern form of
sacred dance Sacred dance is the use of dance in religious Ceremony, ceremonies and rituals, present in most religions throughout history and prehistory. Its connection with the human body and fertility has caused it to be forbidden by some religions; for exa ...
; he was assisted by his daughter, Maria-Gabriele Wosien.


Biography

Wosien's professional and artistic development included working as a dancer, assistant director, ballet master, dance educator, choreographer, dance scholar and draftsman. He began his career as a long-time stage dancer, moving on to become a dance teacher, using dance and aspects of dancing in spiritual and curative contexts. Wosien ended his career as a Professor without a doctorate at the University of Marburg/Lahn (teaching expression education and dance) and staff at the Friedrich Meinertz Institute (Special needs teacher training) at the Heckscher Clinic in Munich (Empirical research curative education procedures with behaviorally and cerebrally damaged children, development of motion - and expression therapy methods). From 1976, Wosien introduced
circle dance Circle dance, or chain dance, is a style of social dance done in a circle, semicircle or a curved line to musical accompaniment, such as rhythm instruments and singing, and is a type of dance where anyone can join in without the need of Partne ...
at the
Findhorn Foundation The Findhorn Foundation is a Scottish charitable trust registered in 1972, formed by the spiritual community at the Findhorn Ecovillage, one of the largest intentional communities in Britain.''The Dictionary of Alternatives: Utopianism and O ...
in Scotland. He used both traditional dances and his own choreography to develop "group awareness". Wosien's approach was taken up by Anna Barton, both at Findhorn and across Europe in the 1980s, and this style of
sacred dance Sacred dance is the use of dance in religious Ceremony, ceremonies and rituals, present in most religions throughout history and prehistory. Its connection with the human body and fertility has caused it to be forbidden by some religions; for exa ...
spread around the world.


Family

His daughter, Maria-Gabriele, teaches sacred and
folk dance A folk dance is a dance that reflects the life of the people of a certain country or region. Not all ethnic dances are folk dances. For example, Ritual, ritual dances or dances of ritual origin are not considered to be folk dances. Ritual dances ...
.


Honours and distinctions

* Preis für künstlerisches Volksschaffen I. Klasse der DDR, 1960


Works

* ''Im Ansturm der Rhythmen.'' Cranach, Munich, 1959. * ''Der Weg des Tänzers. Selbsterfahrung durch Bewegung.'' Veritas-Verlag, Linz 1988. (3rd edition by Maria-Gabriele Wosien: Metanoia, Bergdietikon 2008, ). * Maria-Gabriele Wosien (ed): ''Journey of a Dancer.'' A posthumous compilation. Sarsen Press, Winchester, Hampshire 2016, .


References


External links

*
Illustrated biography at Deutschen Tanzarchivs Köln

Worldcat: Wosien, Bernhard
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wosien, Bernhard German choreographers 1908 births 1986 deaths