Goldberg, Chapter 3 - Dada

            RoseLee Goldberg’s chapter three, on performance in Dada, discusses the various groups that were involved within the movement. First, the author discusses the beginnings of Dada in Zurich, more specifically a group of artists and writers that created the Cabaret Voltaire. The goal of the Cabaret Voltaire was to “…create a center for artistic entertainment. The idea of the cabaret will be that guest artists will come and give musical performances and readings at the daily meetings.” (p. 56).  Although the Cabaret Voltaire had only functioned for five months, it seems that the group had a strong influence on Dadaism and what it would become.

            Another significant group was the Berlin Dadaists, who would give new meaning to the context of Dadaism. “But Berlin’s literary bohemians had little in common with Zurich’s pacifist exiles. Less inclined to an art-for-art’s sake attitude, they were soon to influence Dada towards a political stance that it had not known before” (p. 67).  Although the Berlin Dadaists were more concerned with politics, it seems that their performances were similar to those of Zurich’s performers.  Heulsenbeck, one of the significant members involved in the Cabaret Voltaire, was also involved with the Berlin Dadaists. During Heulsenbeck’s performance in Berlin, he took on a provocative subject of satirizing the war and declaring, “…that the last one had not been bloody enough” (p. 67).  Like Heulsenbeck, the Berlin Dadaists appeared to be anti-war and made this an important aspect of their work. Unlike the more pacifist approach taken by the artists and writers in the Cabaret Voltaire, did the political and anti-war motivations of the Berlin Dadaists seem more persuasive and relatable to the everyday public?