Mary Wigman was a German dancer and choreographer, celebrated as a pioneer of expressionist dance. Her work, known as "Ausdruckstanz," rejected classical ballet's structured forms in favor of raw, emotional, and often dark movements. She founded her own influential dance school in Dresden in 1920, which became a central hub for modern dance in Europe. Despite controversy surrounding her role during the Nazi era, her profound influence on modern dance and dance therapy remains widely studied.