A Study of Applying Bauhaus Design Idea into the Reproduction of the Triadic Ballet

After the Bauhaus was founded, Walter Gropius, the principle of the Bauhaus, requested artist Oskar Schlemmer to design a drama lesson in order to encourage students’ cross-field studying, which lead to the ‘golden era’ of the Bauhaus Theater between 1923 and 1929. Oskar Schlemmer’s most straightforward conclusion was: ‘human bodies are mobile architecture.’ However, compared to architecture and product design, studies and discussions of the Bauhaus Theater are relatively few despite ‘Triadic Ballet’ providing a pioneer experiment which has sufficient influence over the development and merging of cross- field performance art. Work began on the ‘Triadic Ballet’ in 1912 and, led by Schlemmer, and was a collaboration between him and the students, as an experiment which lasted for another ten years. Schlemmer used dancing and machines as implications and tried to expand the potential of Theater performance. This programmed performance has become the standard method of understanding the transformation of modern art and the Bauhaus Theater. This research used qualitative research methods to analyse the ‘Triadic Ballet’. In addition, we proposed an aesthetic aspect, ‘human bodies in the space’ and used it as the main theory to construct a new ‘Triadic Ballet’. A quantitative research questionnaire was also used to explore the audiences’ understanding of aesthetic experience after watching this whole new ‘Triadic Ballet’. This research emphasizes cross-field collaboration between design and performance art, and used both qualitative and quantities research methods, hoping to once again present the great ‘Triadic Ballet’ and the Bauhaus spirit.