Pina Bausch (
27 July
1940 –
30 June 2009) was a German
modern
dance choreographer and a leading
influence in the development of the
Tanztheater style of dance.
Biography
Philippine
"Pina" Bausch was born in Solingen
, near
Düsseldorf
, the third and youngest child of August and Anita
Bausch, who owned a café attached to a small hotel.Bausch
began dancing from a young age.
In 1955 she entered the Folkwangschule
in Essen
, then
directed by Germany's most influential choreographer Kurt Jooss, one of the founders of German
Expressionist
dance.
After
graduation, she won a scholarship to continue her studies at the
Juilliard
School
in New York
City
in 1960, where her teachers included Anthony Tudor, José Limón, and Paul Taylor. In New York
she performed with the Paul Sanasardo and Donya Feuer Dance
Company, the
New American Ballet
and became a member of the
Metropolitan Opera Ballet Company.
In 1962, Bausch joined Jooss' new
Folkwang Ballett Company as a
soloist and assisted Jooss on many of the pieces, before
choreographing her first piece in 1968, and in 1969 succeeded Jooss
as artistic director. In 1972, Bausch started as artistic director
of the then Wuppertal Opera Ballet, which was later renamed as the
Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch. The company has
a large repertoire of original pieces, and regularly tours
throughout the world.
Male-female interaction is a theme found throughout her work, which
has been an inspiration for—and reached a wider audience
through—the movie
Talk to Her,
directed by
Pedro Almodóvar.
Her pieces are constructed of short units of dialogue and action,
often of a surreal nature. Repetition is an important structuring
device. Her large multi-media productions often involve elaborate
sets and eclectic music. In
Masurca Fogo half of the stage
is taken up by a giant, rocky hill, and the score includes
everything from Portuguese music to
K.
D. Lang.
In 1983, she played the role of La Principessa Lherimia in
Federico Fellini's film
And the Ship Sails On.
Personal life
Bausch was married to Dutch-born Rolf Borzik, a set and costume
designer who died of leukemia in 1980. In 1981 Ronald Kay became
her life-long companion and was the father of her son, Rolf.
Awards
Among the
honours awarded to Bausch are the UK's Laurence Olivier Award and
Japan's Kyoto Prize, while in 2008 the city of Frankfurt-am-Main
awarded her its prestigious Goethe Prize.
Death
Bausch
died of an unstated form of cancer in Wuppertal
five days after diagnosis. She is survived
by her son Rolf and her partner.
Gallery
Pina Bausch's Cravos,
2005.Image:Cravos01.jpg|Image:Cravos02.jpg|Image:Cravos03.jpg|
References
Obituaries
- Daily Telegraph quote: Pina Bausch, the German
dancer and choreographer ... was the most influential figure in
European contemporary dance for the past 30 years, creating a
much-imitated fusion of radical theatre, surreal art, sexual drama
and danced body language, known as Tanztheater.
- New York Times Pina Bausch, German
Choreographer, Dies at 68
- The Independent Pina Bausch: Dancer and
choreographer whose seminal work gave an unsettling view of the
human condition
- Los Angeles Times Pina Bausch dies at 68;
innovative German choreographer
- The Guardian Pina Bausch 1940-2009, quote: We
have lost dance's most visionary, influential figure, who redrew
the map of the theatre arts.
- The Guardian Farewell to Pina Bausch, the
dangerous magician of modern dance
- The Guardian Pina Bausch tributes: "She got the
keys to your soul"
- l'Humanité The Death of the German
Choreographer Pina Bausch
- l'Humanité Pina Bausch, She Who Made Dance
Speak
External links
Wikis
Quiz
Facts
Map
Search