Dada, el hijo mimado de la ílicita relación del Cabaret Voltaire con Hugo Ball

Hoy rindo homenaje en nombre de este mi rincón personal, al nido de cultivo de las ideas dadaistas, al padre del movimiento suizo, y claro está al Dada mismo. Os traigo el extracto que Hugo Ball (el fundador del Dada de Zurich) escribió en la primera publicación Dada.  (Cabaret Voltaire, Issue 1)

"When I founded the Cabaret Voltaire, I was sure that there must be a few young people in Switzerland who like me were interested not only in enjoying their independence but also in giving proof of it. I went to Herr Ephraim, the owner of the Meierei, and said, “Herr Ephraim, please let me have your room. I want to start a night-club.” Herr Ephraim agreed and gave me the room. And I went to some people I knew and said, “Please give me a picture, or a drawing, or an engraving. I should like to put on an exhibition in my night-club.” I went to the friendly Zürich press and said, “Put in some announcements. There is going to be an international cabaret. We shall do great things.” And they gave me pictures and they put in my annoucements. So on 5th February we had a cabaret. Mademoiselle Hennings and Mademoiselle Leconte sang French and Danish chansons. Herr Tristan Tzara recited Rumanian poetry. A balalaika orchestra played delightful folk-songs and dances.
I received much support and encouragement from Herr M. Slodki, who designed the poster, and from Herr Hans Arp, who supplied some Picassos, as well as works of his own, and obtained for me pictures by his friends O. van Rees and Artur Segall. Much support also from Messrs. Tristan Tzara, Marcel Janco and Max Oppenheimer, who readily agreed to take part in the cabaret. We organized a Russian evening and, a little later, a French one (works by Apollinaire, Max Jacob, André Salmon, A. Jarry, Laforgue and Rimbaud). On 26th February Richard Huelsenbeck arrived from Berlin and on 30th March we performed some stupendous Negro music (toujours avec la grosse caisse: boum boum boum boum – drabatja mo gere drabatja mo bonooooooooo -). Monsieur Laban was present at the performance and was very enthusiastic. Herr Tristan Tzara was the initiator of a performance by Messrs. Tzara, Huelsenbeck and Janco (the first in Zürich and in the world) of simultaneist verse by Messrs. Henri Barzun and Fernand Divoire, as well as a poème simultané of his own composition, which is reproduced on pages six and seven. The persent booklet is published by us with the support of our friends in France, Italy and Russia. It is intended to present to the Public the activities and interests of the Cabaret Voltaire, which has as its sole purpose to draw attention, across the barriers of war and nationalism, to the few independent spirits who live for other ideals. The next objective of the artists who are assembled here is the publication of a revue internationale. La revue paraîtra à Zurich et portera le nom “Dada” (“Dada”). Dada Dada Dada Dada."

Zurich, 15th May 1916.

Dada fue una revolución artística en contra del arte mismo. Lleno de contradicciones, pedía a gritos al mundo que no lo entendiera, y contraatacaba con más confusión. Cierto es que no fue bien bien una corriente artística en el sentido más tradicional del concepto, pero supuso una tormenta que quería romper en mil pedazos el mundo del arte, tal y como había hecho la guerra con las naciones. A veces arte, a veces pura negación del arte. Todo ello no pudo haberse dado sin la incansable persona de Hugo Ball, idealista y escéptico, cuya creencia en la vida no había sido destruida por el profundo escepticismo con el que miraba el mundo a su alrededor. Buscaba férreamente una respuesta con la que poder luchar contra la absurda nada del tiempo que le tocó vivir. Y en el Cabaret Voltaire, de la mano de Tzara, Huelsenbeck, Janko, Arp... lo consiguió. Removieron los cimientos de lo establecido, porque a pesar de lo que años después Tzara confesase "No debes olvidar que la polémica siempre jugó un papel,imprescindible en Dada", este fue una revolución absoluta en las artes visuales, de la que aun hoy nosotros somos herederos directos, en muchas ocasiones sin siquiera saberlo.