The Dancers Collection of Milein Cosman (1921–2017) impresses by its shere extent, and particularly by the diversity of global dance cultures it represents. It comprises hundreds of drawings dating from the late 1940s till the end of the 20th century, and unites a vast assemblage of classic, modern, experimental and folk-dance traditions. Two things particularly stand out about the present collection: Cosman’s virtuosic ability to capture movement as well as her egalitarian artistic approach towards the objects of her drawings.
In fact, the two aspects can be understood as being interrelated: Cosman's passionate and genuine fascination for the moving body seems to have nurtured the development of a distinct technique and also to have shaped her view as an artist.
Her artistic passion for the depiction of movement was primarily directed towards dancers and musicians, but situations of everyday life, such as fishermen, athletes or circus artists, also awakened her creative interest.
The extraordinary collection of Cosman's dance drawings thus affords an exceptionally wide and egalitarian glance at a—in the best sense of the word—colourful world of human bodily expression.
The collection as a whole, over the course of five decades, beautifully documents Cosman’s sincere interest in movement and the masterly perfection of her skills. The development of a brisk but refined style and technique, enabled Cosman to depict moments of motion in real time, often drawing almost blindly from within the darkness of the auditorium or backstage area.
Birgit Åkesson (44) (ca. 1950s) by Milein CosmanParis-Lodron-Universität Salzburg
While watching a dance, her swift hand, employing only a few lines, captured the energy, the particular physical expression and character of the performing body.
Cosman’s artistry succeeds to such a great extent that the elusive quality of a dancer’s movement appears encapsulated in a drawing and becomes virtually tangible for the spectator.
A beautiful series of about fifty sketches, for example, captures the expressive movement repertoire of Birgit Åkesson (1908 – 2001).
Born in Malmö, Åkesson studied dance in Dresden with Mary Wigman (1886-1973) and became one of the most prominent figures of European dance modernity herself.
Particularly impressive when looked at all together, each of Cosman’s drawings provides a striking record of Åkesson’s bodily work, but also reflects a piece of dance history.
Madame Chrysanthème, Sadler`s Wells Ballet (6) Elaine Fifield as Madam Chrysanthème (ca. 1955) by Milein CosmanParis-Lodron-Universität Salzburg
Many of the drawings in the collection depict moments from the productions of dance companies such as the Sadler’s Wells Ballet or the New York City Ballet.
But they also document solo parts performed by world-famous dancers like Kurt Jooss (1901-1979), Renée Jeanmaire (1924-2020), Alexander Grant (1925-2011), Colette Marchand (1925-2015) and many others.
Renee Jeanmaire as Carmen and Colette Marchand in Le Demoiselles de la Nuit
Throughout the collection however, Cosman's interest in traditional global folk- and stage dances is notable. A large number of drawings show dances from the Asia-Pacific region, especially Indonesia, India, Japan and China and portray famous dancers and performers such as Uday Shankar (1900–1977), Ram Gopal (1912-2003) and many others.
Indian Kathakali Dance (4) by Milein CosmanParis-Lodron-Universität Salzburg
Cosman often complements her drawings with, at times, detailed depictions of the dancers’ accessories and costumes.
While at first sight, these portrayals of cultural artefacts might appear superfluous within Cosman’s canon of motion studies, they never divert our attention from the main subject of her art.
Indian Kathakali Dance (1) by Milein CosmanParis-Lodron-Universität Salzburg
Instead, Cosman seems to make use of the immediate relation between dance and dance costume in order to bring out a dancer’s particular physical motion and expression.
For instance, in a number of sketches of the famous dancer of Indian Kathakali, Kottakal Sivaraman (1936-2010), in his performance of the mythological king Rugmangadan, Cosman accurately depicts the traditional voluminous costume and thereby suggests the distinct pacing character of the dance and its focus on expressive gestural work using the hands.
Carmen Amaya (9) (ca. 1948) by Milein CosmanParis-Lodron-Universität Salzburg
A beautiful example in this regard are also the drawings of the famous flamenco dancer Carmen Amaya (1913—1963); here Cosman blurs the swift contours of the dancer’s dress and body and emphasizes the turbulent character of the performance.
Antonio AntonioParis-Lodron-Universität Salzburg
In the drawing of a male Flamenco dancer, in turn, Cosman seems to frame the concentrated physical tension of the upright standing pose through the typical skintight costume.
Whirling Dervish (1) by Milein CosmanParis-Lodron-Universität Salzburg
And similarly, in a print of two whirling dervishes, the endless turning movement is particularly illustrated by the oscillating wide skirts, which beautifully complement the protruding movement of both of the dancers’ arms.
Costumes in many of Cosman’s dance drawings thus allow us to immediately contextualise the dance forms within their respective cultural backgrounds. Cosman’s artistic orientation however, isn’t driven by a gauche notion of the otherness of foreign cultures, but rather integrates diverse cultural contexts into her overall representations of dance. Above all, Cosman appears astounded, fascinated and intrigued by the diversity of the human body’s boundless repertoire of expressive movement and is driven to capture this in all its forms.
Kathakali, India (3) by Milein CosmanParis-Lodron-Universität Salzburg
This is powerfully documented by the variety of dance traditions represented in the collection, but also evidenced in the strictly egalitarian principles of Cosman’s artistic technique.
Ink drawings of ballet dancers (12) by Milein CosmanParis-Lodron-Universität Salzburg
No matter if depicting classical ballet, traditional Indian Kathakali or European dance modernity, a number of swift but steady strokes transfer movement after movement onto the blank pages of her sketchbook.
In this way, and despite the significantly different cultural settings, the drawings of Åkesson (discussed above), Sivaraman, Ananda Shivaram (1916-2001), another famous dancer of the Indian Kathakali, surprise with their aesthetic similarity rather than difference.
Cosman’s artistic approach, her impressive, but also astonishingly simple and straightforward representations of movement, lack an overtly critical or political perspective. Her disregard of power structures—inherent in every process of bodily representation—can appear naïve, if not ignorant, particularly in the light of today’s heightened sensitivity and discourse about gender-, racial- and cultural discriminations.
Mrinalini Sarabhai (1) by Milein CosmanParis-Lodron-Universität Salzburg
However, it shouldn’t be overlooked, that Cosman’s oeuvre nevertheless does entail critical potential. While visual representations of the performing body all too easily and too often replicate a discriminatory view, albeit sometimes an unconscious one, Cosman’s depictions of cultures that are foreign to her persuade through her manifestly egalitarian standpoint. Her drawings are always appreciative and respectful and no spark of exoticist voyeurism or judgment contaminates her oeuvre.
More even than her technical mastery, it is the authenticity and the authority of Cosman’s artistic vision that appear to be the foundation of the radiant and touching quality of this impressive collection. The exuberant abundance contained in the collection represents a truly extraordinary and intimate testimony to the diverse beauty of human bodily expression.
Lukas A. Bengough
Photographs: Hubert Auer
© The Cosman Keller Art & Music Trust
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