German born Pina (Philippina) Bausch was one of the greats in the dancing world. She “defined the psychological landscape of contemporary dance” as reviewer Luke Jennings put it in 2008. She was awarded the Laurence Olivier Award in 2006 for Outstanding Achievement in Dance and was awarded a Life Time Achievement Award at the 2000 Istanbul Festival. These awards, and the many more given to Pina during her lifetime, were awarded in credit to the wide-stretched influence she had on modern dance practice.In an effort to preserve and progress the legacy of Bausch, the Tanztheater Wuppertal: Pina Bausch dance company, a group Bausch collaborated with closely during her life, has announced that they have been working in conjunction with leading dance practitioners from around the globe to create new material for their 2015/2016 season. The dance troupe has been continuing Pina’s work in developing the company by showing that they are “open to new ideas and concepts” said Wuppertal council chief executive Dr. Johannes Slawig in a press conference this week. Further, Peter Jung, mayor of Wuppertal, said of the German City “we have come a long way towards generating a plan to preserve Pina Bausch’s legacy while at the same time ensuring that dance in Wuppertal continues to develop in the future.”Having studied dance from age 14 under Tanztheater pioneer Kurt Jooss in the Folkwangschule (Folkwang School) in Germany, Pina was introduced to Tanztheater before it had a place on the world’s radar.Tanztheater (dance theater) is a sub-genre of expressionist dance with conceptual origins informed by the collective emotions of the people in post-war Germany. The dance form allowed an expression of these feelings that language and movement in their single entities could not translate.Tanztheater aims to connect dramatic work with dance in its purest form — that is to say, dance without explicit confinement to genre and as a vessel for expression. Yet even when Tanztheater was still in its fledgling state pioneering Jooss paradoxically maintained that its dancers’ should possess a skilled underlying command of classical dance techniques.Perhaps then it was the specific combination of Pina’s own training that led her to being widely credited as the first practitioner to fully realize and execute the concept of Tanztheater. In the 1960’s the young dancer moved from Germany to New York to study the fundamentals of classical dance as a “special student” at the Julliard School of dance.Pina’s years in New York came during an era when abstractionism was rife in modern dance, the avant-garde movement was on the rise, and let’s be honest, New York was the place every aspiring dancer wanted to be.After some years living in New York City and working at the Metropolitan Opera, Pina returned to Germany to work alongside Kurt Jooss once more. In 1972 she accepted the role of Artistic Director of the Wuppertal Opera Ballet, Germany.Pina soon renamed the company “Tanztheater Wuppertal” in a statement of “emancipation from mere balletic routines and [to give] the complete freedom to choose one's means of expression” as explained by Norbert Servos in Pina’s online bio.Working without text, story, or obvious intent fast became Pina’s preferred method when creating and choreographing a piece. Instead, the German dance artist allowed her ensemble to explore their own memories in relation to a loosely given theme. Together creator and cast used natural, visceral, reactions to personal life experiences to create visually and emotionally compelling works that were drenched in the rawness of private and social reality.The genre defining dance practitioner sadly passed away in 2009 five days after a cancer diagnosis. The dance company she worked with is now known as Tanztheater Wuppertal: Pina Bausch and its members are keen to continue building on Pina’s legacy.This week the dance company announced that they have invited international choreographers to work with them in creating new pieces for a three-part show to open their 2015/2016 season in September. The selected choreographers are Forced Entertainment’s Tim Etchells, Twerking-classical duo Cecilea Bengolea & François Chaignaud and talented, emerging choreographer Theo Clinkhard.The selection of choreographers along with decisions regarding the dance company’s upcoming program, was made with the help of top consultants from the world dance industry, including Alistair Spalding, Chief executive and artistic director of Sadler’s Wells Theatre, London. Spalding described the opportunity as “an honor and a privilege.”Spalding was a natural candidate to advise the dance group as Sadler’s Wells Theatre have enjoyed a long relationship with Tanztheater Wuppertal. The two companies have collaborated for many years on touring productions, including a famed presentation in 2008 of Bausch’s “Café Müller.” In the production dancers performed with their eyes closed, stumbling through a café scene, “trapped in an existential tape loop, endlessly reprising their actions and interactions.” The Guardian reported at the time.Alongside the new works, as part of the new season the Tanztheater Wuppertal will be touring 10 different pieces by Pina Bausch to 10 cities across the world including London, Paris and Adelaide.2016 is certainly looking to be the start of a new phase in the company’s history as for the first time a new production of one of Pina Bausch’s more recent works will be performed by another ensemble, The Bayrisches Staatsballett from Munich.The project was “already envisaged while Pina Bausch was still alive” Lutz Förster artistic director of the Tanztheater Wuppertal has explained. Directed by dancers from the Tanztheater Wuppertal and in collaboration with the Pina Bausch Foundation “Für die Kinder von gestern heute und morgen” as performed by Bayrisches Staatsballett, will premiere on 3 April 2016 at the opening night of BallettFestwoche (Ballet Festival) in the National theater, Munich.Peter Jung, Wuppertal’s mayor has stated in relation to the news, “dance will continue to have a home in Wuppertal — a physical home, with a Pina Bausch Centre in the heart of our city.”
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