Die Mondsüchtige

Erwin Schulhoff was, to a certain extent, a pop star of his era. The master pianist, on level with Rachmaninov, toured the concert halls of Europe. A popular composer and improviser, he even hosted his own regular radio show, in which he presented the latest dance styles from around the world while seated at the piano, mixing in well-known melodies and popular songs.

As a snapshot of modern dance music, Schulhoff’s surreal ballet Die Mondsüchtige runs along the same lines as his radio show. The work features ragtime, waltz, the Boston, shimmy, step, tango and jazz, compiled as a series of catchy tunes. The ballet cries out to be included in a thematic evening focusing on the ‘Roaring Twenties’, combined, for example, with George Gershwin’s Who Cares? and Paul Hindemith’s Ragtime.