pina bausch

last night i went to b.a.m. with my mother to see vollmond by the late and great pina bausch. we have a tradition of going every fall. this year was particularly special/sad because it was the first since the choreographer's absence.

my mother had said, and i agree with her, that one of the things that marks pina bausch's work is the seamless/dreamlike quality to it. it it is hard to distinguish where one section begins and the other ends. the performers (i like this word better because they do more than dance) enter and exit the space sporadically and frequently overlapping. sometimes performers will have an elaborate "scene" on stage. and other times a single person will walk through the space, pausing only briefly to deliver a single line to the audience. these lines are often witty, funny. but the work overall is filled with different kinds of moments - from tragic to absurd.

another thing that marks pina's work for me is the way she utilizes some magnificent material to create the space for her work to exist (one year it was a mountain of roses on the stage - maybe 15 feet tall?) . in vollmond it was a shallow river of water running accross the stage, straddled by a large bolder. The dancers performed, on, under and around the boulder, as well as through and sometimes submerged in the water.

you can see a clip here. the way water elaborates and punctuates every movement is beautiful.

no pina bausch dance would be complete with out striking women in gorgeous dresses. in fact, i think she was one of my inspirations to do a dance about women last year. i always loved the way she portrayed them. and yet i cannot describe how she portrayed them. they were some brilliant balance of elegant, charming, delicate, delightful and independent. (?) maybe a picture will say it better.