Phillipine "Pina" Bausch was a German dancer and choreographer, as well as the director of her own company, Tanztheater Wuppertal. I am interested in Pina Bausch because her work is fascinatingly eclectic. Upon typing her name into a video search engine, I found pieces that are traditional, clean, and set to classical music (i.e. Orpheus and Eurydice); as well as pieces that are abstract, evocative, and galvanizing (i.e. Café Müller). But, no matter what video I watched, I could feel the complete investment, devotion, and conviction from her dancers. I would like to research more about her lineage to find out with whom and where she trained that might have influenced her eclectic repertoire.
Ms. Bausch unfortunately passed away in June of this year; click here for a riveting review of her life and her company.
I have never heard of Pina Bausch before, but am surprised because her ideals and works are brilliant. I loved her rendition of Rite of Spring, it had the tribal feel, but unlike Nijinsky was more modern in the sense that there was release and more weight in their movement. I agree with what Mollie said about how she showcased the human body. Also, she had to have not only been very creative and smart, but excellent technically because of her training at Julliard, and the wonderful people she studied with. I enjoyed learning about Pina Bausch and her human body studies. I agree with Mollie also that the videos I watched of her, you could see her passion. She seemed to not choreograph and dance to please dance critics, but simply express her eccentric mind. That is so much what dance is about, not pleasing others, but doing it for yourself.
ReplyDeleteMollie- I got you confused with Laura!! Sorry, I just realized my mistake. Wonderful,exemplary BLOG. You hit the ball out of the park with this one.
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