Pina Bausch Centre announces online ‘under construction’ series

The Pina Bausch Centre, which will be the new home for Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch, has announced the programme for its online under construction series that runs from November 21-29, 2020.

The curators have invited international guest artists, dancers, researchers and the people of Wuppertal “to imagine new forms of togetherness and collective action.” The eight days includes everything from baking fortune cookies, daily digital warm-ups for the whole family, workshops (from yoga to Gaga and contemporary dance), artistic interventions, masterclasses, films, music, a nightly programme of dance films, podcasts, panels, discussions, outdoor projections and live streams.

“Having originally planned the event as a meeting point and opportunity for the people of Wuppertal to become involved, we were adamant for it not to be cancelled. Instead it has become a testing ground for the potentials of digital spaces,” they say.

Pina Bausch's The Piece with the ShipPhoto Maarten Vanden Abeele
Pina Bausch’s The Piece with the Ship
Photo Maarten Vanden Abeele

Included, is Bausch’s The Piece with the Ship on November 21. Due to be performed in front of a live audience, it will now be projected on to the façade of the Schauspielhaus. The installation will also be digitally live-streamed from the future Pina Bausch Centre.

Three podcasts will feature conversations with Barbara Kaufmann (in German), and Saar Magal and Julie Anne Stanzak (both in English) on the process of re-staging the work.

Other events will feature pupils from Wuppertal schools, the tanzcHor60+ of the Bergische Musikschule, dancers from Wuppertal’s independent scene; and international guest artists including Helena Waldmann, Gintersdorfer/Klaßen, Richard Siegal and Robyn Orlin.

The future Pina Bausch CentrePhoto Barbara Falter
The future Pina Bausch Centre
Photo Barbara Falter

The future Pina Bausch Centre will include dedicated rehearsal spaces in the exact place where Pina Bausch created the majority of her works. A new production centre will offer space and opportunities for the creation of large-scale national and international stage productions across different genres.

It is designed to be a laboratory of the future, knitting together recollection, experimentation, creativity, knowledge transfer, reflection and participation in multiple ways. A new extension will be built as part of the renovation of the former Schauspielhaus, for which an architectural competition is due to be announced next year.

The Pina Bausch Centre, a joint project by the City of Wuppertal, the State of North Rhine-Westphalia and the German Federal Government, will also house The Pina Bausch Archive, which will open access to her artistic legacy.

For more information visit www.pinabauschzentrum.de

For the under construction programme, visit https://under-construction-wuppertal.de