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Dance tribute to Pina Bausch an international first

Thursday, 20 October 2022

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Dance lovers are in for an unprecedented treat this November when WAAPA pays homage to the world-renowned choreographer Pina Bausch in its final dance season for the year, Icon: An Extraordinary Event.

In an international coup, Icon marks the first time that Bausch’s Tannhäuser Bacchanal will be performed outside of Germany. For local audiences, this is also the first time that a Pina Bausch work will be performed in Perth.

Pina Bausch, who died in 2009, was one of the greatest choreographers of the 20th century. Her immense influence on generations of dance makers and performers around the world endures through her internationally acclaimed dance-theatre company, Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch.

She famously once said, ‘I am not interested in how people move, but in what moves them.’ In rehearsals, Bausch provoked her dancers into movement by asking them to delve into their past experiences. The innovative, expressive choreography that came out of this intense process was staged with arresting sound design and unconventional sets.

Now, with support from the Minderoo Foundation, WAAPA is delighted to bring two stagers of the Pina Bausch Foundation, both former dancers in Tanztheater Wuppertal, to collaborate with WAAPA’s students to remount Bausch’s Tannhäuser Bacchanal.

Marigia Maggipinto and Ophelia Young will share their expert knowledge of Bausch’s choreography with the dance students and LINK, WAAPA’s graduate dance company, to bring this classic work to the stage of the Geoff Gibbs Theatre.

Widely considered to be the precursor to Bausch’s iconic The Rite of Spring, Tannhäuser Bacchanal features 23 dancers on stage performing to Wagner’s romantic, restless music.

Minderoo Foundation’s Director of Arts & Culture Ella McNeill said, “We are so excited that artists from one of the world’s most renowned dance companies will be coming to Perth to work with WAAPA students. It’s vital that our most promising emerging artists have access to world-class companies and teachers here in WA, and that is at the heart of Minderoo’s long-standing support for WAAPA.”

The other two dance works on the Icon program are remounts of works by Australian dance legend Meryl Tankard and WAAPA’s very own Michael Whaites, Artistic Director of LINK Dance Company. Both these acclaimed choreographers were dancers in the Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch. Tankard was a company member from 1978 to 1984, while Whaites spent five years in the company from 1995.

Tankard’s work Chants de Mariage, remounted with assistance from award-winning local choreographer Paige Gordon, features an all-female cast in an exploration of ritual, secrets, deception and sacred vows.

Whaites created Things That Remain, a gentle piece devised around nostalgia and remembrance, soon after Bausch’s passing.

Icon: An Extraordinary Event, with choreography by Pina Bausch, Meryl Tankard and Michael Whaites, runs from 11-17 November in the Geoff Gibbs Theatre.

Icon is an exceptional opportunity for Perth audiences to experience Pina Bausch’s groundbreaking modern dance in a program with works by two leading Australian choreographers who – like millions of dancers throughout the world – have been influenced by this leading light of modern dance. Tickets will sell quickly so book now to avoid disappointment.

A UTOPINA project by the Pina Bausch Foundation.
A co-production of Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts and the Pina Bausch Foundation.

ICON: AN EXTRAORDINARY EVENT

Where: GEOFF GIBBS THEATRE, 2 Bradford St, Mt Lawley
When: Friday 11 – Thursday 17 November at 7.30pm, matinee Saturday 12 November at 2.00pm
Tickets: $35 Full / $30 Concession / $28 Friends
Choreography by: Pina Bausch, Meryl Tankard with Paige Gordon, and Michael Whaites
Performed by: 2nd and 3rd Year Dance students with LINK Dance Company

BOOK NOW: Tel: (08) 6304 6895 or online at: waapa.ecu.edu.au

Photo by: Ulli Weiss © Pina Bausch Foundation

For further information or to discuss interview opportunities, please contact:
Anton Maz, Marketing Manager,
Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts
Phone: (08) 6304 6817 / mob: 0404 699 772 / email: a.maz@ecu.edu.au

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