"No dance without ecstasy!" is the credo of Mary Wigman (1886-1973), from her real name Marie Wiegman. In this film made around 1929, the German choreographer let an anonymous producer capture her modern choreography. The dance of the witch presented for the first time in 1926 imposed itself then as an anthological play that shook up classical references. Her movements, both savage and tragic, were carried away by the rhythm of the percussion. Wigman sought to go into a trance by taking her inspiration from the ritual dances of traditional societies. She sometimes wore masks that she made herself.

The dancer started out doing rhythmic gymnastics at Emile Jacques-Dalcroze (1865-1960) in 1911. Disappointed, she looked for a more bodily expression. She then joined choreographer Rudolf von Laban on the advice of her painter friend Emil Nolde. The latter would notably do a portrait of her dancing. In 1919 she distanced herself from von Laban. Becoming a choreographer after a few years in solitude and relentless work in Switzerland, Wigman performed her first solo in Berlin. Her reputation was established in one year, so much so that in1920 she founded a dancing school in Dresden, spearhead of the Ausdruckstanz, literally the expressive dance. Her vision presented dance as the expression of passions and human aspirations, which provoked such interest that a school based on these principles opened in New York.

She remained in contact with von Laban, notably by collaborating on the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Berlin in 1936. Not caring much for the national-socialist regime she moved away from Leipzig to return to West Berlin in the post-war years where she continued to train her troupe. But it wasn't until the 1970's with the emergence of Tanztheater, a style closely associated to choreographer Pina Bausch, that her heritage was rediscovered.