„20 Dancers for the XX. Century and even more“

THE IDEA OF THE ASSERTION…
OR THE ASSERTION OF THE IDEA

Wuppertal Opera House was to become a temporary „Musée de la Danse“ – a dance museum – for three days

Opinion by Klaus Dilger

A book presentation at which the subject of the homage had already departed before his „20 Dancers for the XX. Century and even more‘, the last two presentations of his idea of a ’Musée de la Danse“ (dance museum) had already left the stage. If it had been a real book presentation, the two could have complemented each other in an exciting way, especially if the audience had had the opportunity to ask questions. After all, the printed work entitled ‘NAHAUFNAHME’, published in November 2024, conveys quite clearly why Boris Charmatz and the work of Pina Bausch and continuing it with the Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch are actually incompatible and, in its assertive manner, gives an idea of why he was nevertheless given this task.

So this was the last performance, at least for the time being, by Non Danse concept choreographer Boris Charmatz, who is still artistic director in Wuppertal until 25 July. He invited 25 dancers, almost half of them members of the Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch ensemble, to ‘tell’ their work, their ideas and their embodied memories of and with (mostly) famous choreographies and artists in short stories. The venue: the Wuppertal Opera House, which many also had to discover in three times three hours last weekend. These hours were not enough to see all the contributions and participants and really get involved in their storytelling. Movements, perhaps gestures, explanatory, accompanying words, perhaps not. No stage lighting, no stage set, no costume, at least not most of the time. The artists involved would have had to create all of this, bring it into harmony or contrast, even and especially for those who had perhaps seen the quoted originals before or experienced them on a stage.

Perhaps this is a curse for those who have actually been able to experience many of the originals live, perhaps even at their creation or première. But perhaps it is also a blessing, because they were able to add, at least mentally, what individuals were not able to do in their ‘storytelling’. Sometimes also because their own ego stood in the way of this overall picture. In these cases, the ‘blessing’ became a double ‘curse’.

However, Charmatz was probably not primarily thinking of this group of people in his ‘archaeological concept’, which nevertheless has to be able to withstand such ‘encounters’ in order to be valid.

Unfortunately, this time it can only be words about the highlights that have left impressions, because filming was forbidden (for reasons we don’t really understand) and so our basis, the free and independent reporting in words and pictures as journalists, who otherwise always give our visitors the opportunity to form their own picture from the film impressions, has been prevented.

Obvious differences

The difference between the Pina Bausch dancers, the younger members of the Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch and the guests of ‘terrain’, whose advantage in experience was clearly visible in this format, would have been immediately apparent to everyone.

The reasons for this are obvious, as explained above, and are also based on their understanding of dance and performance, which is clearly different, perhaps even broader, at least for an approach such as the one Charmatz outlines in detail in ‘NAHAUFNAHME’, the book whose review might have been interesting but did not take place. (see above) Because the completely distanced and uncritical euphoria about the non-present subject of the book, which Marietta Piekenbrock, as author and co-editor, and Bettina Milz, as moderator?, gave in front of just under a hundred (originally) interested people on the front stage of the opera house, prevented these insights – a book review will therefore take place separately.

For this reason, I would like to refer to the working methods of Pina Bausch, whose collages almost always come together in a specially created ‘universe’. With her dancers, Pina Bausch created her own language, that of dance theatre, and the language of body and movement that she created and which, alongside the large movement tableaux, often flashed up the states and emotions of individuals with short solos, move by move as in a sophisticated game of chess, and then immediately contrasted them with and through others. This often creates arcs of tension that the individuals pass on to those following them as if in an invisible relay race. Many dance artists who work, choreograph and develop dance outside of such enabling structures have to be much more ‘economical’ with the resources available to them. Each individual must bear far more (responsibility) here. This also becomes clear in the approaches seen. And yet, this also became clear: dance art is far more than a collection of movements and gestures (even if there are 10,000 of them), than dancing bodies, wherever they may be.

„Throwing ones bodies into battle“

Pier Paolo Pasolini once called for „throwing ones bodies into battle“. Johannes Odenthal wrote his work ‘Tanz Körper Politik: Texte zur zeitgenössischen Tanzgeschichte’ as a reflection on the discussions since the 1990s. At best, Charmatz has taken up these reflections or allowed himself to be influenced by them; he has not invented them, like much of what he skilfully takes up and quotes (usually without labelling these quotations as such).

A society cannot have enough of these dancing bodies and the art that can be created with and from them. This also emphasises why it is essential for a city to offer structures that invite people to develop, negotiate and encounter dance art in them.

This is the conclusion that can be drawn from the last three days of the weekend, even if some of the things on show at the ‘Musée de la Danse’ were not as convincing as hoped.

One more conclusion: more information would have been helpful

Not every contribution by the performers was able to captivate the wandering audience long enough for them to enter into the desired dialogue with the dancers. It was also noticeable to some in the audience that they were afraid they might miss something somewhere, so they moved on as soon as the tension curve threatened to flatten out a little. Precise information about who would be performing when and where would have been very helpful, but this was not clear from the sketchy map of the house.