A pioneer of German Free Dance, Gret Palucca founded her first school based upon her teaching methods in 1925, the Palucca School. This also functioned as a small touring dance company. With the beginning of 1936, during the time of National Socialism, Palucca was no longer allowed to teach free dance and in 1939, the school was closed. In July 1945, Palucca re-opened her school in Dresden. In 1949 the school was then nationalised and given the status of a professional school of artistic dance. Palucca developed the teaching subject “New Artistic Dance” so that her own individual style could remain in her school’s curriculum as a subject. During the GDR period, the Russian style of ballet dominated the training at the Palucca School. In 1957, the new school building was erected on Basteiplatz. Since 2006, under the direction of Prof. Jason Beechy, the University has concentrated on the equally weighted education of the three pillars, improvisation, contemporary/modern dance, and ballet. The focus is always on the individuals themselves. In the year 2010, the Palucca School was renamed and since then, it is known as the Palucca University of Dance Dresden.