Salomon Bausch (founder and director of the Pina Bausch Foundation) Interview

――Yesterday, the first day of the performance in Japan opened. How did you see it?

It was a wonderful first day. I am delighted to be able to perform this work in a wonderful place in Tokyo. Performing Arts is not a reproduction of a predetermined one, but a raw one that changes on that day. In that sense, last night's performance was a very exciting performance that felt the energy that could be born only in this place.

――After the performance, the audience who saw it gave great applause and cheers. Everyone in the theater felt like they really enjoyed this work.

When I saw the situation at the venue, I was really impressed, and everyone who saw it felt that this work was greatly shaken. Some people said, "It is very significant to be able to present to the Japanese audience how wonderful these works are." This is not a work that ends with a theater alone. After leaving the theater, I hope that even after returning home or returning home, I accepted these works in myself and felt deeply.

――I think that the realization of such a performance will also have a significant meaning in the Pina Bausch Foundation's "passing on Pina's works to the next generation."

I always think that making a performance in this way is a very big job and an adventure. That can be realized not only by artistic elements, but also by everyone's power, including work as a foundation. In that sense, I think the realization of this performance has become one of the great achievements in inheriting Pina's works.

――How did the dancers appear in Saromon's eyes after the end of yesterday?

The way of expression varies from person to person, but everyone was pleased with the success of the performance, and I think they felt the fulfillment and relief that completed the first day of the performance. And I guess you were grateful for the performance in a very important place in Tokyo. And today, the dancers are repeating rehearsals on the stage of the venue using the time before the performance. This company has been performing "Spring Festival" since 2021, but we are still making efforts to see the works in the same quality over time.

――I heard that this performance in Japan was realized through collaboration with Parco. Please tell me what kind of background did you have.

This performance is a co-produced work with Sadr's Wells Theater in the UK. And there has been a deep relationship between the Sadr's Wells Theater and Parco for a long time. In other words, thanks to the trust of Parco at the Sadr's Wells Theater, we were able to respond with peace of mind to this invitation.

――What does the Pina Bausch Foundation emphasize in collaboration?

Of course, they are professional organizations with each other, but whether they really have a strong desire to achieve this performance. I think that's the most important thing. This performance was supposed to be realized in 2022, but it was not possible due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was very disappointing, but it made our bond stronger, and I realized the importance of overcoming difficulties and realizing collaboration.

――They said that both sides had a strong will to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic and realize the performance.

The more you get into difficulties, the better you know the other person, and when you get over, you will see your bonds. This is a fairly large production, so it's never easy to achieve. There are also issues with the visa acquisition, logistics, and budget for company members. The excitement I felt last night's performance will also include a sense of accomplishment in overcoming them. This company is not a permanent one. In that sense, it was a great experience to be able to connect with the Japanese people by visiting Japan and working for the performance. Of course, for Pina Bausch and Pina Bausch Vppatar Dance Company, Japan has a relationship with Japan since the first "Spring Festival" was performed in Tokyo in 1986, and it can be said that this is the basis of this performance.

――Did you have any difficulties in realizing this performance in Japan?

I can't talk to avoid the COVID-19 infection pandemic. And the 35 dancers who participate in this Spring Festival are not always active in one place. So how do you proceed in order to obtain a visa from the country where the performance is performed?……We had to do a huge amount of work accurately, including appointments. It's really crazy, but in addition to the Sudler's Wells Theatre, Parco has responded politely.

――Did you prepare for the performance after the company arrived in Japan?

Yes. And I was not particularly surprised about it. This is because the people of Parco were making proper preparations before coming to Japan. I thought I would be able to proceed without omission even after coming to Japan, but I was able to feel relieved to actually respond in good faith in the field. I am glad to have accepted us with a warm mindset, and I have received reports from different departments and levels of the company that show us that collaboration is going well. This performance has many performers and staff, and especially in the Spring Festival, we have to put so much soil on the stage and withdraw it. I am aware that I have brought very complicated works, including those parts (laughs), so I feel it is wonderful to be able to perform this work with Parco.

Pina Bausch Pina Bausch

Born in 1940, from Zoringen, Germany. He died in Vppatar in 2009. Studied under Kurt Jooss at the Volkvank School of Arts in Essen. He learned dance and acquired outstanding skills. Later, in response to the request of Arno Wustenhafer, director of the Vppatar Theater, he became the artistic director of the Vppatar Ballet. From the fall of 1973, the name of the group was changed to Tantuteatr Vppatar. At first, there were pros and cons, but under this name, it gradually gained international recognition. The combination of poetic and everyday elements has had a decisive influence on the international development of the dance world. He is one of the most important dancers of modern times, with numerous awards.

Pina Bausch Vppatar Dance Company

Pina Bausch has carved a new page in the history of dance. In addition to establishing the world-renowned Pina Bausch Vppatar Dance Company, he also formed a genre called dance theater. Influencing countless artists, choreographers and directors around the world. For his achievements, he has received many awards, including the Germany Dance Award, the Venice Biennale Gold Lion Award, and the Kyoto Award. In 1973, Pina Bausch, a young dancer and choreographer, became the artistic director of the Vppatar Ballet. Immediately after, the ballet was renamed "Tantute Ater Vppatar (Pina Bausch Vppatar Dance Company)". He created 46 works, and even now decades after his production, it still excites and sympathizes people and shakes their hearts. The dance group still retains many works as a repertoire, and maintains and inherits this legacy carefully, devotedly, and heartfeltly. Each of the dancers brings their individuality to the work, and three generations are working together to perform the work. The older dancers take over the role of young dancers and share the experience engraved on their bodies. In August 2022, French choreographer Boris Charmatz became the artistic director of the dance group.
www.pina-bausch.de

Producer Team Interview

This performance in Pina Bausch was invited by the connection between Parco and the Sadr's Wells Theatre. The starting point goes back to "Sutra" produced by Sadr's Wells Theatre in 2016. Since then, he has received proposals for high-quality dance works and projects from the Sadr's Wells Theater, and Parco was hoping to be able to engage in Pina's work more than before, the producer says.

"After Pina Bausch's death, a project to dance her works was developed by ballet teams other than the Pina Bausch Vppatar Dance Company. As I looked into them, I heard this story from the Sadr's Wells Theater, and this performance was realized. Pina Bausch's Spring Festival was first premiered about 50 years ago, but I felt that the idea of performing it with an African dancer had a affinity with the project that Parco has transmitted. Performing arts have the elements of the image of society at that time, and new expressions are emerging one after another, like music, movies, and contemporary art. As you can see in the PARCO Theater lineup, we have been pursuing what is ahead of the classics without falling into retrospectiveism, so we started moving toward a performance in Japan."

However, the performance scheduled for 2022 will be canceled due to the spread of the new coronavirus in Japan and overseas. Still, discussions were being held with the Sadlers Wells Theater on a different stage of performance.

"The performance in 2022 was canceled, but fortunately we were able to proceed with the talk again. I have created a deeper relationship of trust with the team members of the company in Japan, and when I saw rehearsals in Tokyo, I realized again that this is an expression that many people spent their effort and created. The company came to Japan after a long flight for these five performances, showed me a wonderful stage, and the customers also made plans in advance, purchased tickets, and went to the theater, so I wanted to remember how hard it was."

Crews from more than 20 countries around the world, including dancers and staff from 13 African countries, gathered for this performance in Japan. I also asked you about the impression of welcoming such a large company and what you felt after the performance.

"I'm just thinking that I could do more things personally. However, 52 crews arrived safely from more than 20 countries, rehearsaled, finished their production, and returned safely, it was miraculous just to return home, and I am proud to have been able to proceed without time. I am. When I was able to open the first day safely, I was relieved first. The company said, "The dancer and the work have grown with the dancer because it was postponed for two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic," but I also felt strongly. And until just before the start of the first day, the artistic director of this work dispatched by the Pina Bausch Foundation made a detailed rehearsal and said, "It's important to dance well, but I want to see places where chaos appears." Some groups are characterized by an unbroken group dance, but this company felt the power and charm that surpassed it."

It is a comment that suggests that the work was designed to be performed in a better environment, but after finishing this performance, what kind of response did you feel from the producer's perspective?

"The performing arts are something I feel when I see and feel in the same space. I think the script is not "reading" but "watching" in theater, and touching live dance is a completely different experience from watching video. I'm glad if you can directly experience the heat of expression and convey its appeal to many people, and this performance has more people in their 20s and 30s than expected for those who purchased tickets, I was also happy. Many people who were not born at the time of the premiere of the Spring Festival came, and some of them came as parents and children, and students who were recommended by a dance school teacher and visited me I think it's a big thing for the work that many young generations watched. "

These achievements are also significant in terms of the Pina Bausch Foundation's goal of passing on to the next generation. How were both able to collaborate in this performance?

"The Pina Bausch Foundation has a close archive of work information such as text and video, and based on that, choreography guidance is provided by members of the Pina Bausch Vppatar Dance Company to create a new performance. Parco has its own theater and also creates works for performing there, so I think it will be possible to use imagination in the process leading up to the performance of the work and share it with the artists to some extent."

At the end, the interview was concluded with words of appreciation to the company who came to Japan and the audience who visited the venue.

"The companies are all very wonderful people, and we were helped, and I thought, 'Let's do our best for these people.' And thank you for showing me a wonderful performance that is undeniable to my expectations. I think that half of the air in the theater is made by customers, so I am grateful to the customers who shared the heat of this work. The dancers also said, "The Japanese audience was very warm." After all, wonderful works are born from love and passion, which is passed on to customers, and I think Japanese staff were inspired by the heat of this work."

The Rite of Spring, PHILIPS 836 887 DSY, Homage to the Ancestors is a Pina Bausch Foundation, École des Sables & Sadler’s Wells production.

Creative Credits

The Rite of Spring
Choreography – Pina Bausch
Music – Igor Stravinsky
Set and Costumes – Rolf Borzik
Collaboration – Hans Pop
World Premiere -3 December 1975, Opera House Wuppertal
Restaging
Artistic Directors – Josephine Ann Endicott, Jorge Puerta Armenta, Clémentine Deluy
Rehearsal Directors – Ditta Miranda Jasjfi and Çağdaş Ermiş, Barbara Kaufmann, Julie Shanahan, Kenji Takagi A Pina Bausch Foundation, École des Sables & Sadler’s Wells production, co-produced with Théâtre de la Ville, Paris; Les Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg; Holland Festival, Amsterdam; Festspielhaus, St Pölten; Ludwigsburg Festival; Teatros del Canal de la Comunidad de Madrid, Adelaide Festival and Spoleto Festival dei 2Mondi.
The project is funded by the German Federal Cultural Foundation, the Ministry of Culture and Science of the German State of North Rhine-Westphalia, and the International Coproduction Fund of the Goethe-Institut, and kindly supported by the Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch.

Pina Bausch "Spring Festival", "PHILIPS 836 887 DSY" / Germene Akoney "Homage to the The Ansisters" Japan Performance Official Visual Book + Pamphlet Sales Page (Friday, December 13, 2024 until 17:00)

https://online.parco.jp/shop/g/gPLP0655/

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