Egypt stocks hit record highs in 2025 as reforms fuel rally: Cabinet    Egypt condemns Israeli strikes on Lebanon, Syria    Egypt signs strategic agreements to attract global investment in gold, mineral exploration    Egypt launches first national workshop on food systems, climate action with UN, global partners    Al-Sisi reviews Egypt's food security, strategic commodity reserves    Syria says it will defend its territory after Israeli strikes in Suwayda    Egypt urges EU support for Gaza ceasefire, reconstruction at Brussels talks    Pakistan names Qatari royal as brand ambassador after 'Killer Mountain' climb    Health Ministry denies claims of meningitis-related deaths among siblings    Egypt's gold prices grow on July 13th    CBE's Abdalla attends Arab central bank governors' meeting ahead of Sept summit    Egypt's Health Min. discusses drug localisation with Sandoz    Egypt, Mexico explore joint action on environment, sustainability    Egypt, Mexico discuss environmental cooperation, combating desertification    Needle-spiking attacks in France prompt government warning, public fear    Foreign, housing ministers discuss Egypt's role in African development push    Korea Culture Week in Egypt to blend K-Pop with traditional arts    Egypt, France FMs review Gaza ceasefire efforts, reconstruction    CIB finances Giza Pyramids Sound and Light Show redevelopment with EGP 963m loan    Egypt's PM urges BRICS to prioritise peace    Greco-Roman tombs with hieroglyphic inscriptions discovered in Aswan    Egypt reveals heritage e-training portal    Three ancient rock-cut tombs discovered in Aswan    Sisi launches new support initiative for families of war, terrorism victims    Egypt's GAH, Spain's Konecta discuss digital health partnership    Egypt expands e-ticketing to 110 heritage sites, adds self-service kiosks at Saqqara    Egypt's Irrigation Minister urges scientific cooperation to tackle water scarcity    Palm Hills Squash Open debuts with 48 international stars, $250,000 prize pool    Egypt's Democratic Generation Party Evaluates 84 Candidates Ahead of Parliamentary Vote    On Sport to broadcast Pan Arab Golf Championship for Juniors and Ladies in Egypt    Golf Festival in Cairo to mark Arab Golf Federation's 50th anniversary    Germany among EU's priciest labour markets – official data    Cabinet approves establishment of national medical tourism council to boost healthcare sector    Egypt's PM follows up on Julius Nyerere dam project in Tanzania    Paris Olympic gold '24 medals hit record value    A minute of silence for Egyptian sports    Russia says it's in sync with US, China, Pakistan on Taliban    It's a bit frustrating to draw at home: Real Madrid keeper after Villarreal game    Shoukry reviews with Guterres Egypt's efforts to achieve SDGs, promote human rights    Sudan says countries must cooperate on vaccines    Johnson & Johnson: Second shot boosts antibodies and protection against COVID-19    Egypt to tax bloggers, YouTubers    Egypt's FM asserts importance of stability in Libya, holding elections as scheduled    We mustn't lose touch: Muller after Bayern win in Bundesliga    Egypt records 36 new deaths from Covid-19, highest since mid June    Egypt sells $3 bln US-dollar dominated eurobonds    Gamal Hanafy's ceramic exhibition at Gezira Arts Centre is a must go    Italian Institute Director Davide Scalmani presents activities of the Cairo Institute for ITALIANA.IT platform    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Pina Bausch's passing: A double loss for Egyptian dance
Published in Daily News Egypt on 16 - 07 - 2009

The most prominent name in dance theater departed our world earlier this month, weeks before her planned trip to Cairo to create a new piece about Egypt.
Pina Bausch, the German dancer and choreographer who revolutionized dance theater, died at age 68 after serving the theater and dance world with treasures of choreography for 35 years.
Dancing since the age of 14, Bausch earned a grant to study at Juilliard School of Music in New York, where she briefly danced with the New American Ballet at the Metropolitan Opera. Her work began when she was appointed director and choreographer of the Tanztheater Wuppertal in Germany in 1973, which now bears her name.
Bausch created a unique signature in the world of dance theater, allowing her dancers to find their voices, to talk and sing and even interact directly with the audience.
Not only did she engage theatricality in dance, she liberated dance from the rigidity of the old schools of ballet and the egocentricity of modern dance.
Working collaboratively with her company, she constantly directed questions to the dancers who responded in movement or gestures creating work that was less about the individual and more about the relationships between individuals in a changing world. She often said, "I'm not interested in how people move, but what moves them.
Her early works, such as "Café Müller and "Kontakthof, focused on relationships between women and men, examining the social expectations and roles of each gender that often led to frustration because of the limitations of connection and the impossibility of genuine intimacy.
Pina Bausch's choreography began to attract attention abroad thanks to a string of acclaimed performances at the World Theater Festival in Nancy, France, in 1977. This was the start of her flourishing international career, which put Wuppertal on the world dance maps, and made her pieces the hottest ticket in theater and dance festival worldwide.
As she established her name in the dance world, her work began to look more closely at social issues. Her later work focused on social consciousness, exploring interactions of people in society, in the models of the late 20th Century.
Among the visually arresting and thought-provoking moments in her work is of a family preparing dinner together. They gather around the table, eat, talk, share stories, and laugh as they enjoy their meal. A television set is rolled on stage and placed near the family. Slowly the conversation dies down, as each member of the family gradually turns to face the television. Carrying their plates in their hands, each automatically moves food from the plate to his/her mouth with eyes fixated on the flicker from the box.
Bausch's simple and powerful image offers a strong commentary on the disintegration of familial ties under the pressure of modernity. The shift her dancers portray reveal how people become programmed by the images spewed from their television that reduces them to robots, losing their graceful agility, barely feeding themselves, and finding no joy in life. The warmth of family life is replaced by the cold, disconnected virtual world.
Bausch's TanzTheater (dance theater) created a new language that continues to inspire dancers and choreographers. This language didn't only materialize in the movements of her dancers and the stories their bodies told, it was also evident in her staging of the work, having her dancers move in mud, perform on leaves, or even slide in water. For her, dance was about theater, and Bausch's theater offered the audience new insight into their personal and social relationships, as well as fresh ways to re-examine their connections to the natural elements, in distinct playfulness that made her work easily distinguishable.
Her opus was recognized worldwide; in 2007 she was awarded the Kyoto Prize - one of the top prizes in the art world - in recognition of her work in breaking down the boundaries between dance and theater, and pioneering a new direction for theatrical art. She was the first woman to receive this award.
Though the images she created circulated the globe, Bausch tended to avoid the limelight. Recently, her face became known to many people outside the dance world through her appearance in Pedro Almodóvar's Oscar-winning film "Talk to Her, which pays tribute to her work.
In the last few years, Bausch developed her own brand of intra-national work. She would travel abroad, with her troupe and create a piece with local artists, usually about their culture, then take it on tour and bring it back to Wuppertal. Her most successful collaboration was with India. Her next trip was planned for Egypt this September.
Unfortunately, her Egypt project will never see the light, depriving Egyptian artists from working with the top contemporary choreographer.
Yet all is not lost. Her troupe, TanzTheater Wuppertal, is planning to carry her legacy and continue the tour. They will perform "Bamboo Blues and "Sacre at the Cairo Opera House on Oct. 3 and 4, offering Egyptian audiences a taste of the world of Pina Bausch whose work gave dance theater a new meaning and opened new doors of collaboration and interpretation for dancers and theater artists everywhere.


Clic here to read the story from its source.