Pina: a dance film everyone should see

Abstract

Pina: a dance film everyone should see Need some fresh ideas about choreography, dancing, or filmmaking? Why not look to the best? by Blair Brown I learned about Pina Bausch from my undergraduate dance major course in dance history, but I only knew her name, that she danced in Germany in the mid- and late-20 th century, and that she created postmodern dances. The information I knew was vague, distant, and not very connected to me. But after watching this Academy Award-nominated film, I felt like I knew Pina and her dancers and could get inside their community. I started to understand her voice, and now I find that her work has become a great inspiration for my choreography. What did this film do differently that hadn’t been done before? I would say that this was the first feature length dance documentary I’ve seen that was primarily a screendance, not just a way of documenting a stage performance. Respected German “new cinema” director Wim Wenders uses strategies that make the film itself a creative act. Close-ups bring you very near to the performers, similar to how a screendance would. In most dance documentaries the choreographer’s work is shown on a stage, recording the work being performed in front of a live audience. For Pina, Wenders re-shot the majority of the choreography specifically for this movie, so dance occurred in site-specific locations as well as on stage. There were interviews, but the majority of the film was choreography, and through the dance we were able to understand the subjects. When dance did appear onstage, they went up close and personal to the dancers instead of using a wide angle from the back of the house or a profile view from backstage. The film was shot primarily in Wuppertal, a western German city where Pina ran her company. Putting her movement in site-specific locations in the city where she worked and lived helped to connect me to Pina even more. Understanding where she came from when creating her work helped me appreciate her context as an artist. This film gives a very accurate portrayal of Pina Bausch’s “dance theatre” choreography and as a result, the kind of work that was being produced at that time period in Europe. Bausch was considered one of the 20 th century’s foremost choreographers and the film was created in the year of her death, which allowed it to not only be a lens into her work but also a tribute to her legacy. Through all the interviews with her dancers, you get a deeper awareness of how the company operated and the community that existed there. Bausch put her dancers in uncomfortable situations in a very theatrical way that as an audience member you cannot help but feel. She spoke about real and raw emotions, situations, and relationships. Being able to see those up close in the film was impactful. Seeing this film also helped me to define “dance theater” as a genre and truly understand what that term means. Bausch took dance and made it theatrical by using not only the body but also the face, as well as spoken text. She took theater and added more choreographed bodily expression through movement. While watching, I realized how little theater exists in our dance world. There are so many blank faces in dance, which does not help to portray any choreographic intention. Bausch’s work feels raw and real because of her use of theatricality and the face in her dance pieces. Without the face and emotion we are just bodies moving through space in interesting spatial patterns and shapes. To speak deeply with dance you need to get to the root of