Pina Bausch
For three decades Pina Bausch and her Tanztheater Wuppertal pushed the boundaries of dance in an attempt to expose the harsh reality of the human condition. Her works were interdisciplinary masterpieces that had an unmatched way of “integrating dance, theater, music, scenery, and costume into a large-scale spectacle.” that not only drew people in, it offended and appalled them. Her work told whatever truth Bausch wanted it to with little regard for the feelings and opinions of others. Whether or not viewers agreed with her opinions the work never failed to make them feel something, which is all any artist can ask for. This paper serves as an exploration of Pina Bausch’s fusion of multiple art forms to create powerful and expressive works.
Pina Bausch began studying dance, in Germany, around the age of fifteen with another interdisciplinary artist, Kurt Jooss. He inspired her to use dance in a more integrated way incorporating different elements of art by combining elements like, “music, speech education and dance…” Jooss also introduced Bausch to the Ausdruckstanz style of his mentor, Mary Wigman, whom Bausch was inspired by to find a new way of expressing the human condition, something she continued to explore for the rest of her life. She also found motivation from the new style of modern dance in America, where she lived for a few years, learning from artists like Jose Limon and Antony Tudor. From this study she took away the rebellion of the 1960’s that looked to find new expressive grounds for art, outside of the technique of ballet, and even modern, dance. She took those ideas back to Germany with her where she continued to work for Jooss, eventually taking over as director of his dance company, a position she held until her death in 2009. One of her first pieces, as director, was a re-creation of Bertolt Brecht’s, The Seven Deadly Sins, a work that required the use of acting and singing, which introduced her to his style of “epic theater”. Brecht’s “epic theater” was used to “provoke the spectators’ recognition of daily situations and facilitated their actions and decision-making toward change,” something that Bausch would quickly incorporate into her own choreographic mission.
Using the tools that she had learned from her mentors and contemporaries, Bausch formulated her own ideas about dance and what its purpose should be. She wanted dance to serve as a “mirror [to the] audience, showing… [people’s] most desperate fears, longings, and triumphs by tapping into both [their] fascination [and their deflection] of painful issues.” Her work was meant to open the eyes of the viewer, whether they were ready for it or not, and she used the “theatrical forms [a collaboration of interdisciplinary art] as a means to [that] end.” Whatever element served the purpose best is what would be used even if that meant sacrificing “pure dance”. Her ultimate goal was to use the integration of multiple art forms to break the separation between art and life focusing on the everyday struggles faced by humans so that people would become less passive about those struggles.
The Tanztheater gave Bausch the outlet she needed to achieve her goals. The first time the concept of “Dance Theater” was seen was in the 1920’s and 1930’s when Rudolf Laban used the term to describe “dance as an independent art form, based on harmonious correspondence between the dynamics of movement and spatial pathways. In the 1970’s a new rebellion began, one where artists began exploring new techniques to illustrate “modern” ideas with a rejection of anything classical. Art forms were looking for a “new language and for the immediacy of a lost sensuality” that they found in the integration of multiple disciplines of art. The independent form of “Dance Theater” gave these artists the ability to incorporate any and every means of communication turning “Dance Theater” into a fusion of dance and theater that still exists today.
The Tanztheater stood as the fusion between dance and theater and Bausch embraced that “new aesthetics of images, the open structure, and the emancipation from a narrative story line” incorporating those ideas into her work. Most of her work, inspired by these ideas, was created based on improvisations, the simplicity of everyday movement, and the loose structure of narrative with no resolution so Bausch relied on the unification, as an interdisciplinary artist, of production elements and dance to make her work whole.
She began her approach to unify genres by incorporating the Brechtian idea of montage. A collaboration of elements that overlapped one another, creating a disconnected plot with no thread connecting the work’s many sections. She overlapped audio, set design, costumes, and dance to create a mixed piece that does not claim to have any “integrity in which [any] element can be questioned as to its individual significance in relation to a continuous story line” This choreographic element quickly became a “steady source of irritation [to viewers but it] developed into an overriding stylistic principle of dance theater [as a whole] … [because of its ability to] defy interpretation.” A major part of Bausch’s work dealt with the lack of narrative resolution because there is no definite answer to the types of social commentary her work addresses. She explained this further in a statement made in 1980 when she said,
“I never thought; ‘That’s how it is.’…I often thought of something completely different, meant something different- but not only that…You can see it like this or like that. It just depends on the way you watch it.”
This idea of finding no real answer made the use of montage ideal for Bausch’s work, because it leaves the need for strict interpretation out. It helped created a more complex piece of dance that elicited a more powerful and authentic reaction from the viewer.
Bausch laid the foundation of her montage with movement. Although many critics claimed that the dancing in her works was sub-par, Bausch made sure to never lose the fundamental idea that Martha Graham established, outer movement is an expression of inner emotion. To create a powerful work Bausch relied on a signature aspect of her choreography which was the use of everyday movement. Many times the movement came across as simple, yet still complex. It was movement that could be done by any one and often times it was inspired by everyone. She spent most of her choreographic process watching people move in their regular environment causing her to pose the question, “an inviting gesture, a gentle turn of the head, a glance, a walk toward each other and a touch- everyday motions or already dance?” She answered the question by incorporating everyday movement like walking and hand holding into pieces like Nur Du and Walzer. What made it different was the intention to make those everyday movements more than just habits. They represented every one, every relationship, and everyday life. Simple movement that seemingly meant nothing to some set up disconnected narratives of relationships that were underlying elements in every piece she created.
She also used a more “expected” choreographic element, repetition. Some of the repetition was performed in an obsessive way, back to back frantic repetition of the same movement. In Kontakthof dancers pull back their lips to expose their teeth, brush their clothes, and pull their hair back obsessively again and again until the audience’s nerves are so frazzled that they stop and move on to the next phrase of dance. Other repetition was seen throughout her works as motifs that showed up intermittently as the pieces progressed. Some of the movement was pedestrian like walking or running, some of it was productive like moving set pieces around the space, and some of it was intricate like the elaborate group work in Vollmond. The repetition exposed the cycle of life, sometimes it can be beautiful and sometimes it can be cruel but most people go through their day oblivious to the fact that it is moving all around them. Bausch used these tools to open their eyes, forcing them to address the things that she felt they often took for granted.
Another element that Bausch used to express her ideas was the set. As noted by Author Gabriel Cody, “Her productions [were] noted for their stunning visceral, and apocalyptic environments”. One tool, which served as one of her most powerful, was the use of natural scenery. She used this to, not only, add dimension and character to her work but to serve her need to socially comment on the relationship between nature and the human race. In pieces like Vollmond, where the floor was covered entirely in water, Nelken, where the floor was covered entirely in carnations, and La Sacre Du Printempts, where the floor was covered entirely in dirt, Bausch placed organic states in the “artificial enclosure of a theater… [as a] metaphor for the fragmentation of our condition through the cultural repression of organic bodies.” For instance, in Vollmond, the water covering the floor weighed down the dresses of the dancers so they had to resist and struggle with it to complete their movement. At some points the dancers become encompassed by the thrashing water, at others they are submissively lying in it, defeated by the resistance. It is a constant war between the moving body and nature, which is a direct representation of the war between nature and man.
Aside from natural elements Bausch also used “[un]conventional décor” to enhance her stories. Typically the whole stage was empty with only the brick walls [of the building visible], but then the empty space was crammed with tables and chairs…a fairground booth, a piano, a water-sprinkler” and other props and set pieces . This construction leaves the viewer with the feeling of immense isolation in the mass of space that is empty, while also causing a clutter of thoughts and frenzy in the mass amounts of props. For instance, in Cafe Muller, the space is so large and lonely, yet the number of chairs and tables is overwhelming. Most of the chairs and tables are not ever addressed by any of the six dancers, yet there is so much clutter and intensity surrounding the fact that they exist in space. As a viewer you have no idea why you feel so strongly but it is powerful that there are so many props and so much seclusion.
Bausch also incorporated costuming into her work. Sometimes the costumes were a compliment to the work, adding beauty or coverage and other times the costumes were symbols of constrictions, stereotypes, and insecurity. Many times when the costumes were simple they were almost non-existent. For instance, in La Sacre Du Printempts, the pink dresses were so sheer and snug the dancers almost look naked and the structure of the garments were so loosely tied, most of them exposed their breast a number of times throughout the piece. If the costumes were not simple and sheer, they were undergarments all together. Women wearing slips and men in boxers can be seen in a multitude of pieces like Nur Du and Cafe Muller. Her use of these types of costumes can be seen as Bausch’s attempt to expose the stigma placed on gender roles and behavior. These costumes do not just stay on the body either. In her piece, Kontakthof, two dancers undress themselves leaving nothing but their undergarments on but then rush to cover themselves again once the group of dancers enters the stage. The scene plays on the idea that there is a deep fear of exposing one’s true self to others, a theme that Bausch referred to again and again throughout her portfolio of work.
One of Bausch’s most notable choreographic choices, with costuming, was the use of formal wear. Many pieces, including Nur Du and Kontakthof, showcased a wide array of ball gowns, high heels and tuxedos. These clothing choices gave the audience the impression that something grand and marvelous was about to take place but instead the dancers merely performed everyday activities. This use of irony was done in an attempt to mock “the concepts of beauty placed on the body, [to mock the] stereotypes of…Hollywood personalities in fur coats and tuxedos”, because Bausch found these ideas to be unrealistic and harmful to the body and the mind. Anette Guse wrote about Bausch’s use of formal wear reflecting on the symbolism in the high heels her dancers often wore by stating, “The high heel could be interpreted as a symbol of cultural oppression forcing women to walk unnaturally, transforming them into… objects”. Bausch took that notion one step further, in her piece Kontakthof, which showed a procession of women struggling down the stage in their shoes. The pain was almost too much to take but they pressed on anyway trying to fit into the mold of their gender role. She then had a male dancer follow the procession out of view imitating the pain and agony that the females were going through. Having the men wear heels, not only stripped them of their masculinity, it placed them in the same category as women further magnifying Bausch’s attempt to say that all human struggle is the same.
Costuming for Bausch was not only ornamental for the body; it served as a choreographic tool too. Dancers in many of her pieces removed and assembled garments as part of the dance. In Cafe Muller, the dancers exchanged clothing and take on each other’s characteristics and style. In the middle of the piece dancers stripped down, shedding their original identify and then transformed into a new person. Coincidentally the identity they took on was just as isolated and complex as the one they left but Bausch had no desire to be literal; instead of using cliché movement she incorporated this theme into the costume giving the piece a more dynamic and whole identity. These costume changes and exchanges were also taking place offstage and they were still just as powerful because “even when they changed offstage, they often reentered still adjusting their undergarments, zipping their last zipper, or buttoning their last button.” These types of adjustments carried on throughout the work, like in Kontakthof, where there is an entire sequence of men and women walking in a circle adjusting one another’s clothing. Never satisfied with their identity they constantly adjust to try and make the “mold” fit but the repetition gets to be too much and they ultimately end up changing again and again throughout the piece. This attention given to the costumes allowed Bausch to use them as a part of the set, as Susan Manning noted, “Discarded costumes often appear among the stage debris. In fact, constant costume changes mark the performers’ shifting roles, suggesting that the performers’ roles are like costumes, being put on and taken off at will.”
These decisions were purposefully made as an attempt to bridge the artistic barriers between costuming and dance in order to create a unified idea of the human condition. In one section of Barbe Bleue, the male dancers discarded their tuxedos, leaving them sprawled across the floor as the female dancers walked behind them fawning over their exposed bodies, while in another section dancers thrashed white dresses all around tossing them aside in the pile. The pile not only gave dimension and texture to the set, it also helped create a more story in the head of the viewers. Once again without being literal Bausch used the costumes to tell a story of isolation, sexism, identity crisis, and voyeurism The dancers in her work never changed clothes because they could or because it created a certain aesthetic; their costume choices were intricately woven into the choreography as a tool, that not only served as an amusing prop but also as a complex element of an ever complicated thematic plot line. A plot line that had no resolution and no concrete process, yet a plot line that developed a clear and concise story if looked at through open eyes.
Another interdisciplinary element that Bausch used frequently was music. In her early work she followed the expected path, setting her pieces to more traditional music but as she began to create more montages of work she decided it was best to not restrict her pieces to one style or score. “She used clips from classical works, arias, folk songs, marches, tangos and above all popular songs from the 1920s to the 1950s.” She tried to use the most appropriate music for the work whatever that may be. In Nur Du, her first piece composed and performed in America, about America, showcased a variety of rock and roll songs from the 1940‘s and 1950‘s that reflected the American culture of the time. With this music she created her own style of splicing and constructing scores to fit her need. She split pieces up so that there was a new work with more dimension and personality to suit the need of her choreography and to emote a certain feeling at a certain moment. She would also split up the score by playing different sections at different times, like in La Sacre Du Printempts where she “set the title score as the third part, followed by the first two parts set to other Stravinsky compositions”.
Bausch also included vocal additions by her dancers. Sometimes the vocals were incoherent grunts or onomatopoeias and sometimes they were words to the songs they were dancing to. In Kontakthof, dancers walk back and forth humming a melody serving as the only musical accompaniment at the time. In Walzer one dancer produces a series of shrilling screams as another dancers is thrown through the air while different women burst out with phrases like, “I’m sorry, so stupid” and “I don’t need your help, or anybody else’s”. Bausch really listened to the music and tried to find use of its structure and elements to enhance her work instead of letting the music control, or just be mundanely involved, in the piece. She incorporated noises and vocals with spliced and reconstructed songs to create scores that were all her own.
Bausch’s work also relied on audience participation and involvement. The involvement came in two ways, direct contact and preconceived stereotypes. Through direct contact with the audience Bausch incorporates dialogue and interaction between her dancers and the audience in an attempt to “interrupt her physical narratives [by] introducing the intimacy of cabaret talk”. Many of her pieces incorporated her dancers “periodically walking downstage [to] share personal stories or jokes with the audience.” In Arien the dancers asked the audience questions, mostly unrelated to what just happened in the dance, but questions that often added humor to the piece. In Kontakthof two dancers sat in the back of the stage gossiping about the other dancers in German. This was rhetorical gossip, as the audience never responded, but it was directed to the audience to make them feel like they were in their circle of ridicule. In Walzer one dancer leads a procession around the open floor walking up to random audience members asking them specific questions about relationships, and telling them about her own experiences in a mix of German, French, and English. These interactions made the pieces seem bigger and more extravagant for the viewer. They were forced to be involved in what is taking place and for Bausch that meant they were forced to become responsible for the social injustices that she spoke of in her work.
The other involvement between dancers and audience members was produced by the preconceived stereotypes that the audience had when it entered the performance space. It impacted the choreography, intentionally, because of the stereotypes and expectations placed on the performers. The expectation of “dance” as a beautiful, effortless form which caused the performers to get “locked in to the audience’s expectation of and desire for form [so they] hysterically execute a series of perfect spins and turns” in a hap hazard attempt to meet their needs. The audience also came in with the stereotypical notion that women have to be delicate and submissive while men are allowed to be overbearing and manly. Bausch weaved both direct contact with those preconceived ideas in the piece Kontakthof where the dancers faced the audience as they showcased their teeth and body like they were in a pageant. They were directly in contact because the fed off of the audience watching, expecting a show, while they also expressed themselves that way because of the societal pressures and irrational expectations placed on physical appearance. Both elements added to the multitude of genres layering Bausch’s works producing even more dimension and complexity than before.
The final element of interdisciplinary art that Bausch used to create her work was drama. She drew upon text to add more dimension to the montage, “but speech [was] never at the service of exposition or communication. Rather, words act as spontaneous emissions, states of mind and being, utterances that simply make audible the traces of a moment. In Arien, the dancers asked questions repetitiously as well as describe their own body parts while staring at the audience. There is no meaning to the phrases, “My foot is bony” or “I have two eyes”; the text serves to distort the plot as they interchange body parts with adverbs, “My nose has two holes” or “My stomach has two holes”. She also incorporated the dramatic element of mimicry. The dancers “mime sexiness [and] embarrassment…to arouse the audience” Often times dancers were looking for something or they were portraying something that the audience did not have contextual information to support; “The men and women walking behind each other [were] tired and aggressive, embarrassed and haughty…frightened and searching; visible reactions to invisible situations.” This tied into the lack of resolution in the narratives of Bausch’s work because the missing details left no room for specific interpretation. The dancers know why they are responding the way they are but the audience has no investment, “[they only] react to what they’re going through”.
All of these elements, dance, set, costume, music, audience involvement, and acting were woven together in an intricate pattern to create a montage of work that was uniquely Pina Bausch. Her work as an Interdisciplinary Artist served to destroy the illusions of dance and theater as well as to create a new and more expressive style that allowed all art forms to be used to their potential. Her fusion of the arts was often simple and quite poetic, only taking what she needed and discarding the rest. She was a product of a revolutionary time in German dance and she was able to take the Ausdruckstanz of Wigman, the multiform production of Jooss, and the “epic theater” of Brecht and merge them into one form that was both artistic and socially aware. Her work will continue to be admired for generations to come for its unabashed, in your face, unapologetic, expression that can only come from a legendary artist like Pina Bausch.
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