Acknowledgments

A book of this magnitude appears because many people in many ways participated in its development and production. They participated, often with lavish generosity, because they were eager for a history of German body culture to be told on a larger scale than previously attempted. They wanted a history that revealed the contributions to German body culture of people whose achievements were much more significant than their obscurity in archives would indicate. The adventure of producing this book therefore brought me into contact with numerous people who made extraordinary efforts and sometimes great personal sacrifices to help me solve problems, answer questions, or excavate valuable but barely accessible evidence.

Professor Anton Kaes at the University of California, Berkeley, showed tenacious faith in the project from the beginning, when I participated in his 1991 NEH summer seminar on the Weimar Republic, "Modernity and Its Discontents." Tony has been a decisive figure in getting this story told. I have never met anyone in academia who has been so successful in motivating me to exceed all expectations of myself and to reach my potential as a scholar. Ed Dimendberg, humanities editor for the University of California Press, also made a powerful contribution in shaping the book. With a bit of help from Tony, he wisely, patiently, and gracefully got me to shape a much stronger and sharper book.

Numerous institutions and organizations provided very important support for the project. These include the National Endowment for the Humanities, the American Council of Learned Societies, the German Academic Exchange Service, and the Houghton Library of Harvard University (a Rothschild Fellowship). A sabbatical granted by the College of Humanities and the Arts at San Jose State University allowed me to spend several months in European archives. The dean of the college, Jack Crane, also

aided the project by approving a grant for photo reproductions. I owe a great debt to several libraries at which I spent many exciting days: the New York Public Library, the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, the Library of Congress, the San Francisco Public Library, the Bancroft Library at UC Berkeley, the Research Library at UCLA, the Sutro Library in San Francisco, and the library of UC San Francisco. Through interlibrary loan at San Jose State University, I received many valuable publications from so many libraries across the nation that I cannot possibly list them all, even if I could remember them all. Hjordis Madsen and Shirley Miguel of ILL at San Jose State University displayed a delightful exuberance and persistence in obtaining extremely elusive publications.

Much of the source material in this book resides only in European archives. These treasure troves include: the great Deutsche Bücherei in Leipzig, the Deutsche Bibliothek in Berlin, the Leipzig Tanzarchiv, the Deutsches Tanzarchiv in Cologne, the Academy of Arts in Berlin, the Hamburg University library, the University of Cologne Theatre Museum Library, the Freikörperkultur library in Kassel, the Czech National Library in Prague, the Polish National Library in Warsaw, the Estonian Theatre Museum Library in Tallinn, the Swedish Theatre Institute in Stockholm, the Netherlands Dance Institute, the Netherlands Theatre Institute, the Center for Netherlands Music, the Donemus Foundation in Amsterdam, the Gemeente Museum in The Hague, the Flemish Cultural Library in Antwerp, the Belgian National Library in Brussels, the Flemish Theatre Institute in Brussels, the Arsenal Library in Paris, the Austrian National Library in Vienna, the Austrian Theatre Museum and Library in Vienna, and the Museum of Modern Art in Vienna. My work in several of these institutions was especially productive because of the wonderful attention paid to the project by particular persons: Onno Stokvis, Arjan Bokelman, Arne van Elk, and Maartje Wildeman (Netherlands Dance Institute), Christine Boonstra and Maike Hendriks (Netherlands Theatre Institute), Monika Faber (Museum of Modern Art in Vienna), Ronald Vermeulen and Mariëtte Borghouts (Center for Netherlands Music), Jeanne Newlin (Harvard Theatre Collection), Uwe Schöne (Deutsche Bücherei), Gabriele Ruiz and Jenny Metz (Leipzig Tanzarchiv), Josef Kroutvar (Museum of Applied Arts in Prague), and Lilian Kirepe (Tallinn). Frank-Manuel Peter, director of the Deutsches Tanzarchiv in Cologne, provided generous, decisive assistance in getting me to shift perspective or direction in the gathering of documentation. In addition, Dr. Ingrid Eggers, cultural affairs director of the Goethe Institute in San Francisco, and Barbara Bernhardt, librarian for the institute, provided me with opportunities and materials that proved significant during the writing of the book.

Outside of these institutions, a number of individuals did much to make the book a reality through their knowledge, curiosity, insights, suggestions, gifts, hospitality, or enthusiasm. I mention these names with great affection:

Dominika Vogt (Berlin), Ina Gutzeit (Berlin), Dorine Lustig (Utrecht), Mathias Zeiniger (Berlin), Chantal LePrince (Tours), Sonja Schonemans (Paris), Gert Opsomer (Ghent), An-Marie Lamprechts (Leuven), An-Marie Torfs (Brussels), Tina Mantel (Zurich), Wilfried van Poppel (Amsterdam), Max Dooijes (Amsterdam), Mina Garman (San Jose State University), Janet Van Swoll (San Jose State University), Russell Merritt (Oakland), and Mel Gordon (UC Berkeley), as well as Maura Shaw Tantillo and John Fout of The Journal of the History of Sexuality . During the past few years, Laurence Senelick (Tufts University) has done gracious, friendly things on my behalf that made it possible for me to achieve more with this project than I anticipated. Susan Manning (Northwestern University) was also generous in her support of the research; her comments on a draft of the manuscript were of great help in shaping the final version. Marcia Siegel (New York University) was another reader of the manuscript whose commentary was powerfully inspiring. Sarah Clark (San Francisco) assisted me in a multitude of ways that made it easier to accomplish a huge range of tasks, not least of which was mastering the computer organization of text and data. Tanya Breindl (San Francisco) provided superb help in translating documentation from the Czech. Through the piano artistry of Charles Turn (San Francisco), I was able to hear some of the delightful dance music of Jaap Kool. I have benefited considerably from insights and scholarship offered by several graduate students in my dance history seminars, and these include: Mary Forrest, Pam Otto, Amy Zsadanyi, David Popalisky, Yi-Chun Wu, Candace Ammerman, Sheryl Bergeson, and Kathy White. In Hilversum, Rene Lobo and his wife, Sjouke, extended enchanting and unforgettable hospitality that allowed me to accomplish much more in The Netherlands than I ever expected I could.

I must also thank members of the UC Press staff who have applied such excellent skill in assuring the best possible production of the book: Danette Davis (production), Erika Büky and Nina D'Andrade (editing), and especially Larry Borowsky, whose superb copy editing has given the text much stronger rhythm and clarity than it possessed before I turned it over to him.

My parents, Walter and Hazel Toepfer, deserve appreciation for their contribution to the book, for it was they who instilled in me from the beginning a powerful respect for the beauties of bodily expressivity.

Finally, I dedicate the book to Carlos Tindemans, who for many years guided the theatre research program at the University of Antwerp. Over the years, he and his wife, Grete, have extended to me many kindnesses and opportunities, and these were decisive in shaping my scholarly ambitions. Carlos patiently and dramatically revealed to me the great advantages of a semiotic approach to performance analysis and history, and so I felt his generous, awakening spirit guiding me throughout the project, even if he would have told the story differently.