15 YEARS OF PINA BAUSCH’S TANZTHEATER WUPPERTAL BY MAARTEN VANDEN ABEELE
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MONIKA BIELSKYTE / WHAT ARE THE PIECES — NOT ONLY AMONG PINA’S REPERTOIRE — IN THEATER/CHOREOGRAPHY THAT HAVE MOVED YOU MOST DEEPLY?
MVA / MY FAVORITE PIECES FROM PINA ARE PALERMO PALERMO, 1980, SACRE/ DAS FRÜHLINGSOPFER, CAFÉ MÜLLER, TWO CIGARETTES IN THE DARK, TRAUERSPIEL, VIKTOR & DAS STÜCK MIT DEM SHIFF. ABOVE ALL I LIKE THE WAY SHE WORKED AS AN ARTIST, HER LIFE & WORK WERE VERY ORGANICALLY CONNECTED & SHE MANAGED TO DEEPLY UNDERSTAND, RESPECT & WORK WITH LIFE & HUMAN BEINGS IN IT’S ESSENCE. FOR ME WORDS WERE DIFFICULT FOR A LONG TIME. SHE DIDN’T NEED MANY WORDS EITHER TO SAY SOMETHING.
APART FROM PINA ‘S REPERTOIRE THAT SHE CONSTRUCTED OVER THE YEARS I THINK IT IS QUITE DIFFICULT TO FIND THE SAME STRENGTH WITHIN MOST OF THE OTHER COMPANIES. HERE & THERE ARE SOME PIECES THAT STRIKE ME, BUT THERE ARE VERY FEW CHOREOGRAPHERS/THEATER DIRECTORS THAT ACHIEVE TO CREATE SUCH A REPERTOIRE LIKE SHE DID. MOSTLY I LIKE THE PEOPLE I WORK WITH. DA UN ALTRA FACCIA DEL TEMPO FROM JAN FABRE, THE SNAKESONG TRILOGY FROM JAN LAUWERS & GOLLYGOSH NO! FOR A SECOND THERE I THOUGHT I WAS INVOLVED FROM EISBÄR ARE THE PIECES THAT HAVE BEEN IMPORTANT FOR ME.
WHEN I WAS IN KAZUO OHNO’S STUDIO IN TOKYO IN 1999 HE WAS DANCING A DUO WITH HIS SON YOSHITO OHNO TO THE SONG FROM ELVIS PRESLEY ‘I CAN’T HELP FALLING IN LOVE’. THIS WAS FOR ME DEFINITELY A REVELATION. WE (MEMBERS FROM THE TANZTHEATER) COULDN’T HELP IT & WERE JUST WEEPING. HE WAS FOR ME THE TOP PERFORMER &, ACCORDING TO WHAT I SAID ABOUT ASIAN PHILOSOPHY, THE EXAMPLE OF A TREE STANDING IN THE SO FAST CHANGING WORLD.
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MB / DO YOU FEEL THERE IS THE POSSIBILITY TO DISCOVER SOMETHING NEW SEEING PINA’S PIECES MORE THAN ONCE?
MVA / A STAGE PRODUCTION HAS BORDERS & IS FRAMED. MADE TO REPEAT ITSELF AS OFTEN AS IT HAS AN AUDIENCE. REPETITION CAN REDUCE THE RISKS OF THE UNKNOWN, BUT CAN ALSO CHANGE OUR PERCEPTION. THINGS THAT ARE REPEATED FIVE TIMES FOR EXAMPLE ONE CAN REACT, AT FIRST, ASTONISHED, THE SECOND TIME IRRITATED, A THIRD TIME BORED, A FOURTH TIME WONDERING WHY & THE FIFTH TIME WE REOPEN OUR MIND & THINK & MAYBE ACCEPT.
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MB / I CANNOT HELP FINDING MOST OF THE DANCE & THEATER PHOTOGRAPHY SOMEWHAT ONE-DIMENSIONAL, REDUCTORY & OFTEN MERELY ILLUSTRATIVE AS COMPARED WITH THE REAL WORK ON THE STAGE. HOWEVER, WHEN I FIRST DISCOVERED YOUR WORKS I HAD A VERY STRONG IMPRESSION YOU WERE TRYING TO FIND SOMETHING DIFFERENT THAN CONVENTIONAL DANCE PHOTOGRAPHY, AS THERE WAS NOT ONLY THE CAPTURED MOVEMENT OF A DANCE BUT ALSO RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN THE CHARACTERS & THEIR STORIES, THE EMPTY STAGE & THE SCRATCHES ON THE FLOOR, DUST, SMOKE…
MVA / WHILE PHOTOGRAPHING PINA’S OEUVRE THERE IS NOT ONLY MOVEMENT ON STAGE LIKE IN, LET’S SAY, SWAN LAKE. IT WAS A WHOLE NEW UNIVERSE OF FANTASY OPENING FOR ME. I FELT LIKE I WANTED TO LIVE IN THAT FANTASY WORLD (WHEN I TOLD PINA THIS AT THE TIME YEARS AGO, SHE TOLD ME THAT I SHOULD NEVER FORGET THAT IT’S ‘WORK’ & PROTECTED ME IN THIS WAY FROM LOSING CONTACT WITH REALITY OFF STAGE). THE REPERTOIRE OF HER & THE TANZTHEATER WUPPERTAL IS A VERY RICH – IN A CREATIVE SENSE – WORLD. FOR HER, DANCE COULD BE SO MANY THINGS. SHE LIKED THE THEATER SO MUCH BECAUSE PEOPLE CAN DO THINGS ON STAGE THAT SIMPLY ARE NOT DOABLE IN NORMAL LIFE. PHOTOGRAPHING HER WORK WAS AT THE SAME TIME DISCOVERING PLENTY OF DIFFERENT THINGS & NOT ONLY MOVEMENT OR NON-MOVEMENT
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(EXTRACT OF INTERVIEW BETWEEN MAARTEN VANDEN ABEELE & MONIKA BIELSKYTE)
THE ENTIRE 26 PAGES ARTICLE ON PINA BAUSCH, TANZTHEATER WUPPERTAL & MAARTEN VANDEN ABEELE ONLY IN THE PRINTED EDITION OF SOME/THINGS MAGAZINE ISSUE002 / THE BLACK BOOK