class overgender,confirms the degree to which masculinist bodypractices sus-
tained therevolutionary fantasy,and that despite theWeimar-era myth of the
NewWoman or the fashion of androgyny. In fact,Mihaly’sabilityto make this
choice without causingascandal underscores the attractiveness ofamale hab-
itus evento women.
Fig..JeanWeidt,“Der Arbeiter/TheWork-
er”(), SammlungWeidt. With permission
of Universitätsbibliothek Leipzig,Tanzarchiv,
Slg.Weidt.
Fig..Jo Mihaly,“Arbeiter/Worker”from
“Feierliche Tänze,”c.,Photo: Atelier
Stone.With permission of DeutschesTan-
zarchivKöln.Jean (originallyHans)Weidt (1904–1988), known as“the red dancer,”grew
up in the Hamburgworkingclass, worked asagardener andacoal trimmerin
the harbor,and became one of the few communists in the world of GermanAus-
druckstanz(expressionist dance). In 1925,hecreated asolo dance calledDer Ar-
beiter(TheWorker)that drew on his own experiences asaphysical laborer.Inhis
memoirs,Weidt describes the difficulties duringthe rehearsal phase of creatinga
dance piece that could at once be descriptive and prefigurative:
248 Chapter13