Dance!

[przed]

The annual Luminato arts festival is on right now, and I found out a few months ago that they were bringing Pina Bausch's dance company, Tanztheater Wuppertal, to perform one of her longer pieces, Kontakhof. I'd adored what I'd seen of Bausch's choreography in Wim Wender's documentary, Pina, so I got us tickets for tonight.

It was brilliant.

The performance was nearly three hours with intermission, and it never flagged once. I was funny and playful and shocking and fascinating. It's set in a dance hall, with men and women in formal dress who play off each other in interesting ways, and is as much theatre as dance.

This is the opening of the piece, which gives you an idea of how it's constructed, with simple movements gradually building up in complexity.

And here's one of the more chaotic sections. (Which when you look at what individual performers are doing, ends up being much more controlled than it seems.)

Comments

[dawnebeth.livejournal.com]

Very weird and intriguing.

[przed.livejournal.com]

The clips don't do it justice. It was fabulous live.

[golden-bastet.livejournal.com]

Oh! I saw Pina (in 3-D, even), and although I was expecting something different and had no knowledge of Pina Bausch going in, I found a lot of the dance fascinating (like that one piece where the couple repeats the steps of their relationship over and over again...). I would so go to see it (if I heard about it beforehand, which isn't guaranteed).

[przed.livejournal.com]

I saw Pina (in 3-D!) at the Toronto film fest. I'd heard of her, mostly because I knew Wenders had been working on the doc for some time, but didn't know anything about her dance. I loved the film, and her stuff is even better live. If you ever get a chance, you should totally see the company live.

[solosundance.livejournal.com]

Ooh excellent, I've always fancied seeing her company live.

[przed.livejournal.com]

I can highly recommend the experience. (I need a dance icon!)

[moonlightmead.livejournal.com]

Oh, this is completely new to me, so thanks! I don't know anything about her or the company. I'm intrigued by the mention of 'theatrical'. I tend to think of all dance that way. This looks very different from anything I have seen before, though. Was the layout as it is in these clips? Where was the audience? Where the camera is in the first one?

[przed.livejournal.com]

Perhaps saying it's more like performance art is more accurate than theatrical. It is, anyway, unlike most dance performances I've seen, and I've seen rather a lot of modern dance over the years.

The set was exactly as it is in the clips, with the dancehall set up in a proscenium stage and the audience where the camera is.

It could get quite interactive, with performers playing with various audience members throughout the show. At one point they brought on a coin-operated kids' horse ride, and one dancer kept going over and cadging quarters from a couple in the front so she could ride it. *g*

[draycevixen.livejournal.com]

Looks like a good time to me. :D

[przed.livejournal.com]

It was fab. I need to see more dance again.