Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch

Pina Bausch created the poignant dance piece ‘Viktor’ in 1987, in collaboration with the Teatro Argentina in Rome. Peter Pabst’s stage setting consists of a gigantic earth pit. Next to the digger at the top gapes an enormous abyss. In the pit, 25 dancers throw their whole bodies into the performance with utter abandon. The piece is characterised by an Italian tonality. You hear folk music from Lombardy, Tuscany, Sardinia and Southern Italy, mixed with crooner hits from the 1930s and compositions by Tchaikovsky and Dvorák. You see line dancing in which the dancers perform uniform movements to nostalgic music and seem to want to charm the audience with a joyful and seductive glance. Pina Bausch described herself as ‘a realistic optimist’. Patient, serene and full of compassion, she observes people and their relationships, desires and fears. And this is exactly what she does in ‘Viktor’. Classy stuff!