Aiming to present Pina Bausch’s creative output not only to a broad audience worldwide, but to a new generation of dance creators as well, the Pina Bausch Foundation also licences her choreographies to international companies and dancers. This led to the creation of a double bill with the École des Sables and Sadler’s Wells London on which »Das Frühlingsopfer« is interpreted by dancers from 14 African countries who came together especially for this production.

The evening opens with the new duet »common ground[s]« by Germaine Acogny, founder of the École des Sables, and Malou Airaudo, one of the first dancers to join the Tanztheater Wuppertal. The two dancers, both past the age of 70, met for the first time when developing this work; still they quickly established a joint choreographic basis, which Airaudo described as gentle, calm and respectful. The expressive riches of decades of dance experience lent the duo a profundity which is a perfect match for »Das Frühlingsopfer«, now almost 50 years old itself.

A Pina Bausch Foundation, École des Sables & Sadler’s Wells production co-produced with Théâtre de la Ville, Paris; Les Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg; Holland Festival, Amsterdam; Festspielhaus, St Pölten; Ludwigsburg Festival; Teatros del Canal de la Comunidad de Madrid, Adelaide Festival and Spoleto Festival dei 2Mondi. The project is funded by the German Federal Cultural Foundation, the Ministry of Culture and Science of the German State of North Rhine-Westphalia, and the International Coproduction Fund of the Goethe-Institut, and kindly supported by the Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch.

The event is part of the subscription package »Tanz und Ritual« [Dance and Ritual].

Image © Maarten Vanden Abeele / Pina Bausch Foundation