Pina Bausch: The Ultimate Wordly Choreographer

Inspired by her travels, Pina Bausch choreographed gorgeous expressive neo-expressionistic dance. The elusive choreographer said, in an interview last year, that her inspiration came from her many travels. She was known for works showing men and women engaged in endless, often violent, power struggles. Alastair Macaulay wrote that her work could be “strikingly picturesque, always fluid in its comings and goings” as it “switches between episodes of sensual impulsiveness; coy, catwalk like audience-awareness; rushing scenes of harrowing need or anxiety; and diverse aspects of melancholia.”

Because dance does not use words, and much of its spell lies in aspects of contrast, rhythm and coordination, it is only occasionally taken seriously as drama. But, the productions by Ms. Bausch always made an immediate impact as theater. The art of dance will be diminished as a result of her death. No single label will do. Ms. Bausch was not just a green artist protesting the desecration of the environment, though that was a powerful element in her works, or a feminist depicting the opposition between women’s pain and their social conformism, which was evident. Nor was she an expressionist emitting rage at aspects of the socio-political status quo, though the intensity of that feeling was unmistakable. In some of her pieces she seemed to be celebrating the charm of the world, not just mourning its erosion.
And, Ms. Bausch was often very comical. She was a theater poet and the dance world will be monumentally smaller without her. Much thanks to Ms. Bausch, who gave so much of herself to the world of dance. She generously unraveled the inner landscape of her mind onto the stage for the world to witness. She is a true inspiration.