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This essay aims to retrace the history of Tanztheater, starting from the early 20th century, with the birth of free dance by the Hungarian master Rudolf Laban, to the contemporary Tanztheater later developed by the German dancer and choreographer Pina Bausch. The first step of the analysis consists in identifying the common points on a technical and compositional level. Then, we examine the innovations, mainly methodological, brought and systematically adopted by Pina Bausch since 1977, with the choreographic composition of the pièce “Blaubart”. In conclusion, the essay proposes a reflection about the symbolic dimension of movement and dance, which can be considered the main element in establishing continuity between the free dance of Rudolf Laban and the Tanztheater of Pina Bausch.