Bausch, Pina

Bausch, Pina (pē'nu boush) [key], 1940–, German dancer and choreographer. After training with Kurt Jooss, she studied in New York with Antony Tudor, Paul Taylor, and Paul Sanasardo. In 1973 she assumed the post of ballet master of the Wuppertal State Opera Dance Theatre. She became known for her rather bleak vision of humanity, with its cruelty, violence, and power struggles, for her neoexpressionist approach, and for her dramatic, surreal stagings; for example, in Carnations (1983) the stage was covered with thousands of silk carnations that were trampled during the performance, and in Arien (1985) the dance area was filled with ankle-deep water. Her experimental concert ballets have included productions of Kurt Weill's Seven Deadly Sins. She has also choreographed Stravinsky's Sacre du printemps (1975) and Bandoneon (1980). Bausch's later works, which tend to be mellower in tone and more romantic than her earlier dances, include Two Cigarettes in the Dark (1994), The Window Washer (1997), and Danzón (1999). Since 1986, Bausch also has created full-length pieces inspired and usually commissioned by various cities; these include Palermo, Palermo (1991), Hong Kong in Der Fensterputzer (1997), Lisbon and São Paulo in Masurca Fogo (2001), and Istanbul in Nefés (2003).

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

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