Pina Bausch(1940 — 2009)

A radical reinterpretation of Stravinsky's ballet performed on a stage covered in earth, where the ritual sacrifice becomes a universal metaphor for domination and violence. Considered one of the greatest choreographic works of the 20th century.

An autobiographical piece in which Pina Bausch dances herself, eyes closed, through a space cluttered with chairs. Inspired by the café of her childhood, this poetic work explores loneliness, memory, and the search for tenderness.

An exploration of relationships between men and women set in a dance hall, alternating between seduction, rejection, and everyday violence. The piece was revived in 2000 with non-dancers over 65, then again in 2008 with teenagers, demonstrating its universal resonance.

A stage entirely covered with 8,000 pink carnations, through which dancers move dressed in everyday clothing. A masterpiece of theatrical poetry that blends tenderness, melancholy, and absurdity.

The first of the 'city pieces' inspired by Palermo and Sicilian culture, opening with the collapse of a concrete block wall on stage — a likely echo of the imminent fall of the Berlin Wall. This work launched a cycle of collaborations with cities around the world.

A piece inspired by a stay in Lisbon and Cape Verde, infused with the rhythms of fado and Cape Verdean music. One of the most luminous and sensory works in the Tanztheater Wuppertal repertoire.

I'm not interested in how people move, but in what moves them. What matters is what lies behind the gestures.

Pina Bausch's Tanztheater does not seek to tell a story in the traditional sense. It explores human relationships in their most primal and most vulnerable dimensions.

Dance is for me a way of seeing the world, not just of showing it. Each piece is a question I ask of the dancers and the audience.

Our sets must breathe. Earth, water, flowers — these natural elements bring the body back to its essence. We have been working together since the early days in Wuppertal.

Home of the Tanztheater Wuppertal since 1973, this opera house in the Rhenish industrial city became, under Bausch's direction, a world-renowned center for contemporary dance. Most of her major works were created here.

Pina Bausch's hometown, where her parents ran a café-restaurant whose customers she observed as a child, absorbing the human behaviors that would feed her entire body of work. The atmosphere of that café resurfaces directly in 'Café Müller' (1978).

An arts school founded on Bauhaus principles where Pina Bausch trained from 1955 under the direction of Kurt Jooss. This institution shaped her vision of a total art form blending dance, music, and the visual arts.

The prestigious performing arts school in Manhattan where Bausch honed her technique from 1960 to 1962 on a Ford Foundation scholarship. Her encounter with American modern dance — through Limón and Tudor — greatly broadened her artistic range.

The Parisian venue that accompanied Pina Bausch's international career, regularly programming the Tanztheater Wuppertal from the 1970s onward. Paris was one of the earliest centers of international recognition for her work.