On 7 November 2008 Tanztheater Wuppertal celebrated a special premiere: Teenagers perform "Kontakthof", a piece by near-mythical dancer-choreographer Pina Bausch. For nearly a year, 40 local high school students had worked towards that day, practicising every week. Writers-directors Anne Linsel and Rainer Hoffmann accompanied these rehearsals as well as the premiere with their camera.
Their
moving documentary "Dancing Dreams", which screened at Berlinale and won the Special Jury Prize at New York's Festival Dance on Camera as well as Best Documentary at the Cinedans Festival Amsterdam, delves into the lifes of these young people and their first encounter with the world of dance --and shows some of the
last footage of and last taped interview with Pina before her untimely death.
On the occasion of Tanztheater Wuppertal's guest performances of "Kontakthof" at the
Luminato Festival this June and the company's 40th anniversary, we bring
arts journalist Anne Linsel to Toronto to screen and discuss her film and collaboration with Pina Bausch:
“Dancing Dreams” (2010) by Anne Linsel & Rainer Hoffmann
June 13, 4pm DVD screening, followed at 5.30pm by a conversation between Linsel and Christopher House, AD of Toronto Dance Theatre
Free admission at the Goethe-Institut Toronto
In the accompanying book, Anne Linsel engaged Pina Bausch and the young students about their process and goals:
On the idea of the project:
Anne Linsel: Kontakthof with teenagers from 14 upwards … What made you think of this project?
Pina Bausch: Kontakthof is one of my early pieces.
When I made it with my dancers in 1978 I was curious, I wanted to know how the piece would feel when the dancers were older. So in 1999 I made it again, but this time with older people, laypeople, not dancers – men and women of 65 and over. That was really fantastic. The life experience these people had –-you felt that on the stage-–, it made it an entirely different piece. For all of us it was a surprise, a surprise that the production had become a thing of such beauty.
Then for many years
I wanted to see what this same piece would look like without that life experience. The idea remained dormant for a long time, but then I thought we should try it out. It’s really wonderful to feel the enthusiasm of these high school students.
On staying yourself & keeping your individuality:
Linsel: You once said at rehearsal
“You must always stay yourself, with all the qualities and subtleties that everyone has.” Is that the central point?
Bausch: Exactly. Someone has a certain way of walking, for example, and that must stay that way.
You can’t say to them: Walk differently. Everyone has something individual. Maybe it was hard to understand at first, but I think they all grasped it in the end.
It wasn’t easy, though. At the beginning you could see who came from which school. I thought OK, the way he’s walking with his chest stuck out, he’s certainly a high school kid. But those are prejudices, and it’s no good living like that. Then I got to know this boy, and others, too, Sören or David or Timo. Now we’re all friends.
Feedback from the young dancers:
Yes, I think I’ve changed.
Dancing certainly makes you more self-confident, and perhaps that way more open towards others. Joy
Well at first, honestly, I found it pretty embarrassing. It was, well, like we say, "for gays". Honestly, that’s what I thought at the beginning. That’s not for me. But then I got to know some new people, friends, and it started to be fun. And now we’re like a family.
Rosario
I think it’s the same for all of us. After this time,
you have a different physical feeling with your body, freer, more mature. That’s how it seems to me. You’ve got a different awareness of your body, in everyday situations, too. You perceive things differently.
David E.
Teenagers dance Kontakthof (2008) and Seniors dance Kontakthof (2000) were not the only treatments Bausch's 1978 masterpiece received. In 2010, brilliant Berlin-Singapore media artist
Ming Wong created “Kontakthope”, a 2-channel video installation in which a group of 22 dancers of Berlin curators and artists (look out for filmmaker Aykan Safoglu, who we just presented at Images Festival!) took part in a ‘Tanztheater’ workshop to explore the relationships between men and women, individuals and groups, thereby mirroring the various dynamics amongst artists and curators who work together.
See you at Luminato for "Kontakthof" on June 11 and with Anne Linsel at the Goethe on June 13!
by Jutta Brendemuehl
Quotes from "Dancing Dreams" courtesy of Anne Linsel
