December 2001 - Nr. 12
Pina Bausch Brings Breathtaking Dance-Theater to U.S. Stage
TWIG - Modern dance master Pina Bausch is in the United States this week with her groundbreaking company, Tanztheater Wuppertal. Known for her lush, dreamlike, emotionally charged productions, the 61-year-old choreographer is presenting her Portuguese- and Brazilian-inspired piece Masurca Fogo at the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Next Wave Festival.
Born in Solingen in 1940, Bausch began studying dance at age 14 at the Folkwang School in Essen, where she drew inspiration from expressionist choreographer Kurt Jooss. After moving to New York to attend the Julliard School, she danced with the Metropolitan Opera and the New American Ballet, then returned to join a new company founded by Jooss, the Folkwang Ballet. There Bausch choreographed her first piece, Fragmente, and eventually became director. In 1973 she took charge of the Wuppertal Ballet and transformed it into Tanztheater Wuppertal, ushering in a new era of dance shaped by startling images and high drama.
"I’m not interested in how people move, but in what moves them," says Bausch, whose work has engendered both adulation and harsh criticism. She last appeared in New York two years ago with her 1995 piece Danzon.
