Berlin dances: Pina Bausch and the Tanztheater
With her choreographies, Pina Bausch shaped modern dance theater like no other. However, she did not write history in world metropolises like Paris or New York, but in the tranquil Ruhr area - in the Lichtburg rehearsal room in Wuppertal. The place of origin of most of her choreographies, in which she combined acting and artistic performance in a unique way. With the exception of the dancers, hardly anyone had access to the old cinema from the 1950s. Even during the ride on the suspension railway (the rehearsal room is roughly at the same level), prying eyes were shielded with white fabric in front of the windows.
From 16 September to 9 January 2017, the exhibition "Pina Bausch and the Dance Theater" in Berlin's Martin Gropius Bau is revealing the secret behind those curtains. In addition to objects, installations, photos and videos from the Pina Bausch archive, a faithful replica of the rehearsal room was also installed. Ballet bars, a piano, even the long wooden table are here. From here, Pina Bausch always observed her dancers and took notes while doing so.
It has very little in common with a rigid exhibition space, in which the museum attendant gives you the notorious "don't touch and preferably don't breathe" look just a few seconds after entering. Rather, it is to be understood as a meeting place where Pina Bausch's legacy is brought to life again through dance performances and workshops. However, full buckets of water, as in the piece "Full Moon", do not have to and should not be dumped in the hall for this purpose. So if the security guards stare at you for a long time, just take this as a silent invitation to dance.
F or more information about the exhibition in the Martin Gropius Bau in Berlin (until January 9, 2017) can be found here . And in our opinion, there is no better film to set the mood for the visit than Wim Wender's homage to "Pina" (see trailer above).
