Second of two posts of A Night for Pina

After “…como el musguito en la piedra, ay si, si, si…” we were lucky to witness “A Night for Pina”, a celebration of Pina’s life which included a special and original segment that the ensemble and guests prepared on stage for Pina.

Again, beautiful poems of individual scenes. Several nodded to references to Pina’s pieces, sometimes as if they were inside-jokes, while others seemed very personal dedications. All of these scenes between reading of quotes from Pina’s speeches and between sips of wine or coffee in this “bar-like” setting. A lot of Pina’s signatures are in these segments, which make you feel familiarity even if you cannot pinpoint them (an easy example is the constant costume change).

And so my fears before each new premiere have remained to this day. How should it be different? There is no plan, no script, no music, and no set. But there is a date for the premiere and little time. Then I think: it is no pleasure to do a piece at all. I never want to do one again. Each time it is a torture. Why am I doing it? After so many years I still haven’t learnt. With every piece I have to start from the beginning again. That’s difficult. I always have the feeling that I never achieve what I want to achieve. But no sooner has a premiere passed that I am already making new plans. Where does this power come from? Yes, discipline is important. You simply have to keep working and suddenly something emerges – something very small. I don’t know where that will lead, but it is as if someone is switching on a light. You have renewed courage to keep on working and you are excited again. Or someone does something very beautiful. And that gives you the power to keep on working so hard – but with desire. It comes from inside. “

Pina Bausch, Kyoto 2007

The segments with Italian funeral music were striking to me by my recent memory of Palermo Palermo, and I wish I took a picture of their beautiful procession.

” The fantastic possibility we have on stage is that we might be able to do things that one is not allowed to do or cannot do in normal life. “

Reads one of the dancers, from Pina’s speech in Kyoto 2007

In fact, it is very special what makes up this ensemble. They must not only dance, but themselves as people seem to need to have a special presence. Because that is what you feel when you sit and watch a piece. And they are so charismatic, is almost if you get to know them. And you can clearly remember who did a striking segment that touched you. What they are not allowed to do in normal life are ironically the poetic aestethics that reminds us and makes us question/smile/cry about life itself.

Dominique Bercy is alone in one of the chairs, everyone has left the stage. For me this was one of more powerful segment. He reads the following quote.

I have travelled a long way. Together with my dancers, and with all the people I am working with. I have had so much luck in my life, above all through our journeys and friendships. This I wish for a lot of people: that they should get to know other cultures and ways of life. There would be much less fear of others, and one could see much clearer what joins us all. I think it is important to know the world one lives in. “

Pina Bausch, Kyoto 2007

And then the ensemble and guests invite the public to join them for a glass of wine, a step of tango, or a chit-chat, making everyone part of the same celebration.

Once we played The Window Washer in Istanbul. At one point in the piece, the dancers show photos from the past: pictures from childhood, of parents… They say, “That’s my mother,” or “That’s me when I was two years old.” Later they all show each other their private photos and go into the audience to show them to the public. Suddenly in this performance, the spectators took their own photos out as well – that was indescribable: how everybody was showing their photos with wonderful music playing in the background. Many people were crying. “

Kyoto 2007, Pina Bausch

With every piece I have to start from the beginning again. That’s difficult. I always have the feeling that I never achieve what I want to achieve. But no sooner has a premiere passed that I am already making new plans. Where does this power come from? Yes, discipline is important. You simply have to keep working and suddenly something emerges – something very small. I don’t know where that will lead, but it is as if someone is switching on a light. You have renewed courage to keep on working and you are excited again. Or someone does something very beautiful. And that gives you the power to keep on working so hard – but with desire. It comes from inside. “

Pina Bausch, Kyoto 2007

Beyond skillfull and talented way of celebrating someone’s life and work, you could feel how much it was heartfelt, and that was special to witness, from the people she loved, “each in another way”.

I like being in this town, because it is an everyday town, not a Sunday town. Our rehearsal room is the ‘Lichtburg,’ a former cinema from the fifties. When I go into the ‘Lichtburg,’ past a bus stop, then I see almost daily many people who are very tired and sad. And these feelings too are captured in our pieces. “

Pina about Wuppertal, Kyoto 2007

The way to Wuppertal is always a journey, different company, different plans, different seasons and weather. It is not the warmest city to wait alone until the performance. The road is relatively far and long, but these crystalline moments in time are worth immensely for a life rich of value and gradual understanding of what makes us the survivors we are.

Sometimes, we can only clarify something by confronting ourselves, with what we don’t know. And sometimes the questions we have bring us back to experiences which are much older, which not only come from our culture and not only deal with the here and now. It is, as if a certain knowledge returns to us, which we indeed always had, but which is not conscious and present. It reminds us of something, which we all have in common. “

Pina Bausch, Kyoto 2007