Pina Bausch – Frames of Reference

Vollmond

The Christmas full moon got me thinking lunatic thoughts and I remembered this wonderful piece by Pina Bausch for Tanztheater Wuppertal.

Vollmond, meaning full moon or high tide, is among Pina’s most revered works and has been making waves, literally, since its creation in 2006… The full moon highlights our humanity and how we get thrown into emotional highs and lows. Pina’s dancer-actors ride this roller coaster throughout Vollmond, showing vulnerability and strength, detachment and desire, collapse and vitality. It’s visceral. It’s deeply relatable. There is no one story to this show, it’s a glimpse into the lives of a handful of intertwined individuals. Vollmond is a work you can return to and always come out of with a new perspective. Continue reading “Vollmond”

Cucurrucucú Paloma

I first heard this song on the radio a dozen years ago and I was captivated by it. It’s been echoing in my head ever since. It sounded extraordinary and more beautiful than anything I’d ever heard before. I was sure they said it was by Tomás Méndez but I couldn’t find him on iTunes or anywhere. Then by chance I found this video a few days ago and I can’t stop playing it. I’ve now got the album too so I can sing along when I’m alone in the car, and I sound just like Caetano Veloso! Continue reading “Cucurrucucú Paloma”

Smashed

Ever since my daughter saw the post about Pina Bausch she has been saying I should see the Gandinis. She saw them give a free performance of Smashed, their homage to Pina Bausch, last year in Greenwich Park. So finally I did, and I was not disappointed. Here is a short promo filmed on the South Bank outside the National Theatre. They are sharp and funny and dextrous and witty and skillful. I almost want to run away to the circus and join them! Continue reading “Smashed”

Pina

Over Christmas I finally got to see Wim Wenders’ film Pina, a tribute to Pina Bausch and her Tanztheater Wuppertal. I saw them on stage in 1982 at Sadlers Wells, but never again until this wonderful movie. It had felt then that she brought the gravitas of Tarkovsky to dance, though from the evidence of this film she did lighten up a little in the intervening 30 years. I wish I had seen more of her. Continue reading “Pina”