One Minute World Arts- Pina Bausch: A Revolutionary

Pina Bausch: A Revolutionary

Widely hailed as the “godmother of European dance theatre”, German choreographer and dancer Pina Bausch is undoubtedly one of the most influential artists of the 20th century. Breaking away from the restrictions of classical dances, she made great endeavors to create revolutionary and inspiring works, which enhanced drama and dance, two seemingly different and self-accomplished forms of art, to cross boundaries and embrace each other further deeply. When choreographing, Bausch was often driven by her impulse of seeking originality and trueness. In her view, everybody, despite his or her age and physical conditions, should be entitled to enjoy dancing and pursue beauty, as long as there’s a true desire craving for dance.

The sense of freedom displayed by Bausch in the creative process of choreography highlights the recognizability of her work. Her unstructured dance pieces were often created through the approach of provoking dancers into movement by asking them to delve into their past experiences, featuring dancers running, howling, and laughing on stage, and thus forming an ontological narrative that would present to the audience the diversity and complexity of one’s inner world. As a visionary, Bausch was aware enough to reject formulaic techniques originated from classical ballet and, instead, focus on the honest portrayal of one’s innermost feelings. Bausch once famously said: “I am not interested in how people move, but in what moves them.” Through her work, the audience gets to see the connections / interactions between dancers and the objects used or placed on stage, from which multiple themes such as gender, liberty, love, and life can be explored, and Bausch’s unique sense of and profound concerns over humanity consequently observed.

Currently the tenth-anniversary special edition of PINA, a documentary film made by German Director Wim Wenders and dedicated to the great dancer, is showing at movie theatres across Taiwan, attracting fans of modern dance to pay tribute and recollect their fond memories of Pina Bausch and her work.

 

碧娜鮑許：革命性舞蹈家

被譽為「歐洲舞蹈劇場教母」的德國舞蹈家碧娜鮑許，無疑是二十世紀最具影響力的藝術創作者之一；她掙脫古典舞蹈的束縛，致力發表深含革命性和啟發性的舞作，讓戲劇與舞蹈跨過各自的疆界，進一步走向彼此。鮑許編舞時，講求以「真」為出發點；她認為不管是什麼年齡及身體條件的人，都擁有追求「美」與「舞」的權利。換言之，只要有渴望，就能夠跳舞。

碧娜鮑許在創作上的自由性，標誌著其作品的鮮明度。她編的舞多透過排練場上的反覆提問與探索，讓舞者從本身過去的經驗裡，去找到舞動肢體的靈感。演出時，舞者在台上往往呈現出解放自我的狀態，奔跑、吼叫、笑鬧，形塑以本體為中心的敘事美學，藉此凸顯人性所蘊涵的多樣性及複雜度。身為一名具有開創性視野的舞蹈家，鮑許不側重技巧展現，取而代之的，是個人內在情感的真實抒發；她認為自己真正關心的，並非「人如何動」，而是「人為何而動」。從她的舞作裡，觀眾能看見舞台景物與舞者間所建構出來的關係，並且觀照性別、自由、愛與生命等不同主題，感受她深刻而獨特的人文關懷。

目前，德國導演溫德斯（Wim Wenders）向碧娜鮑許致敬之作《PINA》的10周年數位紀念版，正在臺灣上映，召喚著舞迷們對一代大師的永恆回憶。

 

Photo credits: ©Wilfried Krüger
Resources:
https://www.pina-bausch.de/en/
https://www.sleek-mag.com/article/pina-bausch/
https://womany.net/keywords/pina%20bausch?ref=wa-bottom