Dancing Pina

Dancer and choreographer Pina Bausch was one of the most important contributors to the modern Tanztheater in the 20th century. Dancing Pina celebrates the art of the legendary dancer and the people who interpret her work today. Two of her dance projects show how young dancers from all over the world are rediscovering Pina’s unique choreographic style: the venerable Semperoper in Dresden, Germany, and the École des Sables in a fishing village near Dakar, Senegal. The young dancers are guided by former members of Pina Bausch’s Tanztheater company. But Pina is not someone who can simply be copied. The dancers have to re-live Pina’s choreographies with their bodies and their own stories. Like Sanguen Lee from South Korea, who was supposedly too tall to become a dancer. Or Gloria Ugwarelojo Biachi of Nigeria, who uses dance to represent her fight for equality. Or Julian Amir Lacey from the US, who had to overcome homophobic prejudices. It is a fascinating metamorphosis: While the performers of street dance, classical ballet and traditional and contemporary African dance forms transform Pina’s work, Pina’s choreographies transform the dancers.