ABSTRACT
The name Dada, and Dada as a performing operation, was of course invented in Zurich. However, in 1918 a cross-fertilisation occurred, or perhaps an infection, which determined the subsequent evolution of Dada. The germ of this infection came from Paris, but via New York, where it had undergone mutations and acquired a new virulence; and it was carried to Switzerland by Francis Picabia. In Zurich Dada, women played an essential role as public performers, as musicians, dancers, and creators of costumes. There are therefore no women in New York pre-Dada whose achievements can be compared with those of Sophie Taeuber, Emmy Hennings, or Suzanne Perrottet. In the years 1912– 1914, the Parisian periodical Les Soirees de Paris had a unique role as a chronicle of the latest developments in modern art. Its moving spirit was the poet Apollinaire, who was a close friend of both Gabrielle Buffet and Francis Picabia.
