How Dada and Dance Came Together in Zurich

The connection between Dada and dance in Zurich can be traced to a specific contribution: Suzanne Perrottet took part in Dada evenings at Cabaret Voltaire in 1916 and 1917. At the same time, she was one of Rudolf von Laban’s important collaborators in and around Zurich and Ascona. Here, then, we find not merely two terms from art history, but artistic working relationships connected through one person.

Perrottet’s participation makes dance visible in this context as an art form in its own right. A dancer brings experience of physical expression, movement and their effects. This offers a different perspective from viewing an evening solely through texts or spoken contributions. To understand the event, what matters first is her participation, not the idea of a particular spectacular performance.

The term “event” is also useful here: an artistic evening is not automatically an evening where the audience dances together. The article on Social Dance in Zurich explains the difference between such an evening and a shared dance floor. Perrottet’s involvement in Dada, by contrast, centers on the connection between movement art and an artistic event. Her later work as a teacher is another part of her story.

If you think of dance in terms of basic steps, rhythm and a neatly finished turn, you expect certain connections. Experimental stage movement can challenge these expectations. But that does not mean every movement is interchangeable: a sudden stop feels different from a slow fade, a turned shoulder different from a direct gaze.

A contemporary thought experiment makes this tangible: someone raises an arm as if they want to greet another person, but stops halfway through the movement. The unfinished gesture remains recognizable, but its meaning becomes uncertain. If a spoken word is added, it can confirm or contradict the gesture. This example illustrates the interplay between body and language; it does not describe a documented performance by Perrottet.

This also helps explain why dance expression does not always have to tell a clear story. You can sense tension, hesitation or distance without knowing a character's name. The article about expressing emotions through dance explores physical expression in contemporary practice. For the historical context, what matters is that movement can carry meaning in its own right and does not have to simply illustrate a text.

Perrottet’s involvement allows you to see dance history as more than a succession of styles and schools. Here, another relationship becomes visible: an artist works in an environment that is not limited to dance. Her Dada evenings therefore belong both to the context of movement art and to the history of Zurich’s avant-garde.

However, this does not imply a simple line of descent leading to every experimental performance today. Similar techniques can appear in different contexts. An interrupted gesture on a stage today proves neither a direct influence from Perrottet nor an affiliation with Dada. A comparison helps you understand, but it does not replace historical context.

This distinction is useful for your next performance visit. You can first notice what is actually happening: Is someone approaching, is someone moving away, does a movement remain unfinished? Only then comes the interpretation. That way, you don’t have to immediately decipher every unfamiliar image. Perrottet’s involvement gives you a specific historical point of reference for this openness, without requiring you to turn it into a fixed style name or a universal explanation of performance art.