Devised and Physical Theatre Semester 2 by

Introduction to Pina Bausch

leic1_20 — 2021-04-28 19:15:54 UTC

Pina Bausch was a German dancer and choreographer, her work centered a lot around criticising the formal structure of dance, specifically the precision. Bausch famously stated 'I'm not interested in how people move, but what moves them'- 2007.
Bauchs's work challenges traditional conforming ideals of dance, in more extreme circumstances, exhausting actors.

Dance Theatre

leic1_20 — 2021-04-28 19:35:36 UTC

-Rudolf Von Laban coined the term dance-theatre in the 1920s (formed the two as one). According to Fernandes 2001:3 he included 'everyday and pure movement in a narrative, comical, or more abstract form'.
-Pina Bausch's work could be considered a form of dance-theatre.
-The contemporary theatre company DV8 is hugely influenced by Pina Bausch's work.
-Kurt Jooss, originally a Laban student founded the Folk Wang School, the same school Pina Bausch attended. Jooss was inspired to combine text and movement and music addressing issues that are socio-political in performance. Further Jooss was also inspired by Brecht in the sense of including political commentary; his aim was also to blur boundaries between different art forms, to show that they are all of equal performance, thus approaching total theatre. He included abstract expression aswell as small, literal, narrative driven ways of performing, all methods thus combined.

1932: Joos directed a piece called the Green Table, A powerful Anti War performance

leic1_20 — 2021-04-28 19:52:08 UTC

-The piece was reactionary for its time, a seminal piece of work combining political message, socio-political critique with movement based practices.
-The piece was forbidden under Hitler's reign because of the didactic nature and Joos' refusal to fire a Jewish collaborator in the project.
-Further Joos was then exiled from Germany because he wasn't compliant with the new regime.
-In 1967 there was a recreation of the Green Table, directed by Joos after his return to Germany, Pina Bausch also danced in this piece.
-The message of the piece portrays how every man and woman is a victim of state brutalities.
-In the 1967 recreation, the performers dressed as clowns when representing the political figures in the piece.
-Below is an extract from The Joffrey Ballet's original adaptation of The Green Table in 1967.

Back to Bausch

leic1_20 — 2021-04-28 20:14:38 UTC

-Bausch trained with Joos at his school until 1959
-Bausch then went on to recieve a scholarship at the school of music in New York.
-In 1973: Bausch became the director of the Wuppertaler Ballet in Germany. which she soon renamed Tanztheater to move away from the strict social codes of ballet (Tanztheatre translates to dance theatre, so the combining of the 2 destroys the social norms surrounding dance and it's traditions.)
-Below are members of Tanztheater performing Kantakthof in 1978.

Bausch and her methods

leic1_20 — 2021-04-28 20:22:09 UTC

-Bausch wanted to revolt against the aesthetically pleasing/beauty driven side of ballet, this narcism she felt lacked content and emotion in traditional dance. She was interested in human emotions and the individuality of each dancer. Bausch's work always included autobiography, be that from the dancers or herself. Further Bausch was interested in the inability to communicate, the alienation between couples and the search for intimacy. Bausch's work was considered very experimental.

Bausch's Work

leic1_20 — 2021-04-28 20:27:51 UTC

FRITZ (1974)
-Elements of clowning during the performance
-Half of the audience left after the first act when first performed because of how controversial the piece was.
IPHIGENIE (1974)
-Because of the outrage surrounding the controversy with Fritz, Bausch's next performance for Wuppertaler was slightly more censored, much more in keeping with what the audience would expect from a classical ballet.
NELKEN (CARNATIONS)(1982)
-Makes a point about how our behaviors are controlled through social codes or state control.
-Piece presented before the fall of the Berlin wall so references to that socio-political context, concept of communism etc.
-Nelken criticises formal structures of dance, and celebrates the performer as an individual.
-'Nelken was first created before the fall of the Berlin wall and captures the oppressive atmosphere of the authoritarian state' (Grieman, 2000:417)
-In performances, performers often wore elaborate evening wear costumes as they are quite restrictive, costumes often commented on gender, constructed gender roles, objectification and cross-dressing to address concepts of masculinity and femininity. Humorously challenging gender roles.
PINA MOVIE
-In the film dancers do solo pieces to honour Bausch, there is a particularly interesting solo that incorporates an intriguing use of gesture. Further good use of repetition and the dancer's manipulation of his own body parts in clips shown.

Practical

leic1_20 — 2021-04-28 21:07:27 UTC

WE WERE GIVEN AN OBSERVATION TASK TO UNDERSTAND GESTURE MORE FROM TWO DIFFERENT PHYSICAL SOURCES
Warm Up
*Feet hip width apart
*Warming up body preparing for physical
*Streches
*Breath work to ground oneself
*Finally a short physical movement routine to get into using the body and the fluidity for the style of Bausch.

The Nelken Line

leic1_20 — 2021-04-28 21:11:43 UTC

Each gesture presents a different season
-The seasons March by Pina Bausch, the Nelken line is incorporated into this and was choreographed by Bausch.

Practical

leic1_20 — 2021-04-28 21:18:38 UTC

*Physical warmup
*New routine to practice fluidity
*deep breathing practices
We practiced and performed the Nelken Line with music, reflecting back the use of the constricting but elaborate costumes paired with the movement really captured this flirtatious cheekiness that was included in the original performance of the Nelken line as presented.

Screenshot from The Nelken Line presentation

leic1_20 — 2021-04-28 21:23:31 UTC

Kontakthof

leic1_20 — 2021-04-28 21:24:11 UTC

Kontakthof is a piece directed bv Bausch about yearning for intimacy and approval. We watched a segment from this piece and it really highlighted this concept of being single and within a 'lonely hearts club' and the desperation to attract a mate/partner.
-The movements in the clips shown seemed strange and obscure, erratic jerking to really emphasise the desperation to impress. The physicalities almost seemed involuntary at points, controlled by a transcendant being, perhaps a symbolism of the control that social constructs have.

Kontakthof translates to meeting place

leic1_20 — 2021-04-28 21:33:41 UTC

Kontakthof has these harsher connotations, referring more towards difficult encounters, for example 'setting a deal' like in a brothel where you pay in exchange for sexual goods or perhaps a meet in a prison courtyard. A sense of entrapment and cynical undertones that is presented in this piece aswell as comedic relief.

Performance of Kontakthof

leic1_20 — 2021-04-28 21:41:48 UTC

-Bausch did performances of Kontakthof originally with none professional performers, at first with ladies and gentlemen over 65 in 2000 then with teenagers between 14-19
-The teenage performance was recieved more controversially because of the sexualisation of young people. It was considered obscure with the older cast however too, both these age groups are considered in popular culture as too innocent for these sexual connotations or too old despite it being fairly normal in both minorities.
-Below is a picture from the over 65's performance followed by the teenage performance

leic1_20 — 2021-04-28 21:51:51 UTC

Kontakthof and gender

leic1_20 — 2021-04-28 21:56:37 UTC

-Kontakthof presents caricatures of gender stereotypes: deliberately over-playing social constructs around what it is to be a man or a woman. These costumes and gestures overemphasise masculinity.
-Finally highlights the theory of the 'perfomativity of gender' by Judith Butler, this theory expresses the concept that gender roles are not actions that we naturally or instictively do but are roles that we perform because we repeat what we see in primary and secondary socialisation, we mimic media further.
-A general point that could be seen as an overview of Bausch's work aswell is this continuous, desperate attempt to please the audience.
GOLDBERG (2013:265) argues: 'All of Bauch's performers- both male and female- seem to be on exhibit for the audience's consumption' this plays into the idea of self objectification and being there for the audiences pleasure
JENNINGS (2013:245): '...roles and attitudes that seem to be expected of them: the mating rituals and the desperate objectification of self.'

Bausch socio-political messages in Kontakthof

leic1_20 — 2021-04-28 22:35:28 UTC

-A message Bausch tries to portray, most notably in a scene where the male and female are presented in pairs and interact in movements that progressively get more and more violent; this is didactic to the idea that both men and women can be brutal and how in relationships things can get destructive both emotionally and physically.
-Another direct critique Bausch tackles in Kontakthof is the trauma related with going to dance auditions and physically having to display her body in a degrading manner, having to step forward and expose certain body parts.
--This was an autobiographical part of the piece.
--In this clip especially it is prominent that the spectacle the performers are creating is all for the audiences consumption. Dehumanising from the audiences perspective, concept of puppetry introduced as if performers are being controlled whilst they repetitively go through these motions.

Kontakthof, Audition scene, further analysis

leic1_20 — 2021-04-28 22:45:42 UTC

Finally the clip really highlights this sense of uniformity and conformity, the 'dancers' need to be accepted to fit in and this idea could be representative to every walk of life. A lot of Bausch's work, although can be split with some solo sections, is mainly ensemble movement, there are no 'characters' as such and the audience is encouraged to view the performance as a whole.

Kontakthof,Violence by the mass scene analysis:

leic1_20 — 2021-04-28 22:51:30 UTC

Another clip is shown that is unnerving to watch as a viewer, really emphasises how individuals are treated violently by the mass. Sadistic movements without conventionally 'sexually assaulting' movements but still giving the uncomfortable impression of this. The male ensemble treat the singular female as a doll, having complete control of her body and clothes, the female is completely submissive with eyes closed, helpless. Slapping of the thigh could represent the animalistic view of preparing a pig for market perhaps.

KEEFE AND MURRAY (2007:80)

leic1_20 — 2021-04-28 22:59:21 UTC

Makes links between Bausch's work and the Hollocaust in this statement- 'For Bausch pain is the corollary (consequence) of living, loving and desire. It is also an existential condition born out of monstrosities of fascism and the Holocaust'

Practical

leic1_20 — 2021-04-28 23:02:42 UTC

The group/class was then split in two, to devise a gesture routine overplaying masculinity and femininity, in response to Bausch's piece Kontakthof. Then we presented what we'd created so far to the rest of the class. My group was performing contemporary concepts of femininity to the backing track 'Who Run the World (girls)' by Beyonce.

Practical

leic1_20 — 2021-05-02 14:45:51 UTC

*Physical warm-up followed by learning a new routine
*Afterwards, performance of developed pieces in groups based on femininity and masculinity
*Followed by discussion on perception of gender and how generation influences this, further discussion on gender roles/expectations and social media's influence.

Kontakthof

leic1_20 — 2021-05-02 14:54:59 UTC

Parts of the piece explores autobiographical experiences with the performers.
The class was shown a clip that presents the 65+ performers describing certain experiences then carrying on their speech once the microphone is moved away from them as they all sit in a line so you can only hear snippets of their story, but as an audience member, can still get a feel of the personal, nostalgic and autobiographical ambiance created. There are cliffhangers and punchlines throughout the scene as the microphone moves however there is only clarity in sound with the person who is behind the mic. All performers are constantly speaking and expressing through movement their stories, but only one voice above all others can be heard.

Practical

leic1_20 — 2021-05-07 01:40:53 UTC

*We were put into groups to discuss stories to do with love and then develop a similar piece inspired by the above scene shown from Kontakthof using the mute button on zoom to allow the narrative and focus to move onto the next person. DO this and include gestures aswell as monologuing, to allow for fragmentation and cliffhangers in the story with the muting and unmuting of mics.
*We then regrouped, performed and discussed our differing takes on the brief.

Pina Bausch Cafe Muller (1978)

leic1_20 — 2021-05-07 01:47:05 UTC

-Cafe Muller was an autobiographical performance by Pina Bausch about her memories of her parents running a cafe, Bausch used to sit under the table observing people and how they interacted with each-other; this would include observations of gestures, conversations and her fascination with how humans interact presumably stems from this time.
-Bausch's parents ran a cafe pre and post 2nd world war.
-The Historical context and inspiration in the piece is largely to do with a whole generation that turned a 'blind eye' on the autsocities of the Holocaust.
-Bausch's character has her eyes closed for most of the performance which is astounding, metaphorical of turning a blind eye to what is happening in the world, but also perhaps, symbolic of her going into a real space of memory and nostalgia; and closing her eyes thus helped her embody the past.
-Hence bring forward the concept of the characters in the 'cafe' blindly sleepwalking throughout the piece?
-The use of gestus is not to identify individual characters but to rather represent the bigger socio-political realities, the way we live our lives and the things that opress us.

Group Discussion on clip from Cafe Muller

leic1_20 — 2021-05-07 22:49:10 UTC

-There was a lot of symbolism in physicalitys and movements, overwhelming because of the chaotic individual actions from each performer. Difficult to work out the focal points. Repetitive movements, symbolism of vulnerability perhaps? And having ones identity stripped bare especially in the historical context of the traumatic events of the second world war.
-There seemed to be a strong desire to repair in the repetition of the movement.
-Collective guilt has great relevance in this piece.
-Bausch danced in Cafe Muller until she was quite old because of the personal and autobiographical nature it had.

KEEFE AND MURRAY (2007:80, shortened quote)

leic1_20 — 2021-05-07 22:56:09 UTC

Fittingly quoted for the previous discussion 'We are not crying for the fate of an individual character, or the tragic twist of narrative...the shocking tears are from witnessing something horrifically momentous. Bausch's movement theatre does not speak its contents in a didactic fashion, through the Brechtian Fabel, but certainly reinvents the 'gestus' for contemporary dance theatre'
Another key statement from Murray and Keefe to describe Bausch's work and her aims is 'to expose the politics and social realities behind everyday actions are the driving forces of her work.'

Group Discussion on repetition in Bausch's work

leic1_20 — 2021-05-07 23:11:33 UTC

-Connotations of control with sociological/political contexts
-Repetition in movements could be drilling in this above concept.
-Historical context: In the 1920s liberation movement in Germany. However, when Nazi's rose to power, this liberal thinking was retracted and strict traditional ideals of social constructs were reinstated.
-Bausch never states the meaning behind her work, therefore it is open to interpretation.

KEEFE AND MURRAY (2007:80)

leic1_20 — 2021-05-07 23:16:02 UTC

"Usually the raw materials which Bausch choreographs are the motions, tasks and gestures of daily life. Through repetition of these actions, Bausch is quite consciously engaging with Brechtian doctrines of 'gestus' and 'epic theatre"

BAUSCH IN KISSELGOFF: 1985,UNPAGINATED

leic1_20 — 2021-05-07 23:18:13 UTC

'Repetition is not repetition...The same action makes you feel something completely different by the end'

Practical

leic1_20 — 2021-05-07 23:21:26 UTC

* warm up exercise then class learnt a routine inspired by Bausch challenging gender roles

1980

leic1_20 — 2021-05-07 23:22:16 UTC

-A playful piece about grief and loss

Ultima Vez: What the body does not remember (1987/2013)

leic1_20 — 2021-05-07 23:57:57 UTC

-Inspired by Bausch perhaps? Has a much more contemporary director, Wim Vandekeybus:'When I watch the performance, I can feel the original passion and energy all over again. At the time I was utterly sick of all that aesthetic stuff, that 'pretending'. I wanted raw emotion, physical power and guts'
-Highlights gender role tensions and aggressions, has uncomfortable connotations.
-Inspired by the concept of reacting when in danger, Snap/natural reactions and translating this into movement.
-Intense physicality

Rosas (Belgium)-Rosas Danst Rosas (1983)

leic1_20 — 2021-05-08 15:05:56 UTC

- Director: Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker
- Much more rigid choreography than Bausch but still individual identities shown.
- Critique of repetitive domestic gestures associated with quotidian, fusing minimal and expressionism.

BEYONCE'S REFERENCE TO ROSAS:

leic1_20 — 2021-05-08 15:13:30 UTC

-Loses didactic nature of Rosas, takes moves out of context.
-The differentiation between presenting the oversexualisation of women and trying to be sexy.

JENNINGS(2009):

leic1_20 — 2021-05-08 15:16:30 UTC

'Allegory of the social and domestic activities imposed on women'

MACKRELL(2009):

leic1_20 — 2021-05-08 15:17:23 UTC

'These dancers are not cogs in a choreographic machine, but individuals who can be grumpy, inpatient, sexy, naive, funny'

Rosas remix project

leic1_20 — 2021-05-08 15:20:55 UTC

-New relevance during the pandemic and lockdowns, the passivity of having to wait in a chair.
-The project was about creating a movement inspired by Rosas, learning movements periodically for Rosas from videos to influence and structure performances.

Practical

leic1_20 — 2021-05-08 15:22:59 UTC

*Taking inspiration from the above idea, we started with a physical warm-up and a new, short routine.
*Developing physical movement- accumalation:
After being split into teams, within our teams, each person adds a movement to create a sequence to create one big ensemble movement inspired by Rosas.

leic1_20 — 2021-05-09 01:16:39 UTC

We started by discussing our aims for the piece and then I wrote out a short scene that could encompass the sociopolitical messages we wanted to portray but also incorporated elements of Kantor and Bausch into our work.

Practical

leic1_20 — 2021-05-09 16:01:18 UTC

*Warm up 30 minutes

Discussion on PINA film

leic1_20 — 2021-05-09 16:02:27 UTC

-It was interesting how each segment was stitched together and filmed using different performers in a range of locations
-Theoretical view almost on Bauch's work, choreography taken from the early years, middle years and later years; and performed, all the while intersected with little vignettes in regards to the location. Such as the swimming pool and by the river.
-Revealing in terms of the underlying cruelty of traditional ballet in order to achieve this very skilled form of dance.

Pina Bausch: Tanztheater (Dance-Theatre)

leic1_20 — 2021-05-09 16:07:13 UTC

-Pina's vision was to challenge those strict codes of conventions of ballet and create something that empowered the dancers for individual expression. The dance was more about expression of self rather the learnt routine that is performed to perfection.
-Interest in more socio-political themes like challenging gender roles and further, roles people are expected to play in life.

BAUSCH

leic1_20 — 2021-05-09 16:13:15 UTC

Tanztheater 'is a statement of intent; it stands for an emancipation from balletic routines and the complete freedom to choose ones means of expression'

The 3 Stages of Bausch's work

leic1_20 — 2021-05-09 16:14:19 UTC

1)Early works: 1974-1977, Dance operas and ballet
-More traditional structure of a performance
-SANJOY(2013)'The Most conventionally choreographic with a development and denouement, and movement as the principle medium.'
-5 Act structure
- Early years, adaptations, she adapted many more existing plays and ballets such as The Seven Deadly Sins (Brecht), she did a lot less adaptations in the later years.

The 3 Stages of Bausch's work

leic1_20 — 2021-05-09 16:27:13 UTC

2)The middle years: From 1977
-Moving onto purely devised work. In the rehearsal process Bausch would have every scene written on a piece of paper on a table and then would take all these pieces of paper and re-shuffle them, hence why her work didn't have the five act structure to it like her earlier stuff and was much more un-linear.
-SANJOY (2013)'Loose, unpredictable montages of scenes,...with ideas drawn from her performers' personal lives. Meanwhile, movement became just one of an anarchic array of mediums that included song, film, costume, set design and props'
-No more 'ballets'
-1980: A playful piece about grief and loss, after Bauch's collaborator and partner Rolf Borzik died.
-Bauch's work, especially in this piece seems very age regressive, incorporating the ideals of childhood games. Further simple but effective choreography inspired by everyday gesture is incorporated like many of her other pieces.

The 3 Stages of Bausch's work

leic1_20 — 2021-05-09 22:53:34 UTC

3)The Late years: From mid 80s
-In the later years, there was more of a return to the 'dancerly' content
-SANJOY(2013):Cities series '(Bauch's) performer's reactions to the cities in which they were resident as source material for surreal, sometimes comic dances about local people and places'
-Palermo, Palermo (1989)

Techniques and Themes

leic1_20 — 2021-05-09 23:11:22 UTC

- Socio-political themes such as gender roles, challenging dance stereotypes.
- Direct Adress
- Auto Biography
- Gesture
- Repetition
- Fragmentation
- Open ended-ness
- Socio-political themes, specifically gender
- Natural Materials
- Playful use of objects
- Montage scenes or replaying of scenes
- Childhood games

Practical

leic1_20 — 2021-05-09 23:28:46 UTC

*Physical warm-up followed by physical improvisation tasks
*We spelt out our names using only our bodies to create a fluid movement from one shape to the next. We experimented with these movements with changes in pace and music.

Practical Cont.

leic1_20 — 2021-05-09 23:35:44 UTC

*We then improvised a piece inspired by loss individually. After this we were put into groups to perform as as ensemble.

Pina Bausch inspired Physical movement about loss

leic1_20 — 2021-05-09 23:43:08 UTC

Gecko Theatre (founded in 2001)

leic1_20 — 2021-05-09 23:45:32 UTC

-Intense physicality
-Emphasis on ensemble
-Action rather than text
-Multiple languages
-A lot of themes surround home, displacement and cultural identity; De-centering english as the dominant language, Director had multi-cultural up-bringing so likes to incorporate multiple heritages.
-Particularly relevant during Brexit with use of multiple languages.
-De-hierarchizing text in theatre as dominant form over physical and visual elements;
we then viewed MISSING(2012-2019:
-Explores loss of cultural origin and identity
-Inspired by director's own experience
-Metaphors in show speak broadly
-Visually Spectacular
-Thrust imagistically into the past/history
-Mixture of contemporary dancers and physically able actors
-Director gives room to allow the audience to input their own personal narrative into the work.

Akrham Khan Company (2009)

leic1_20 — 2021-05-10 00:01:15 UTC

-Integrates south-east Asian with European movement influences or vocabularies.
DUST
-Inspired by trenches in WW1 and the historical, social change of women's role in society in WW1 when they worked in the war effort.
-Dust has connotations of death according to Khan as when we die, we decompose into dust and how it is all around us during life.
-Influenced by Bausch
XENOS
-An Indian ex-soldier reliving the horrors of the trenches.
-Explores xenophobia, relates to Khan's cultural heritage performed by him and suitably named.
-Set compared with some of Bausch's work: Earth on ground and how Khan's body leaves a mark and inprints the earth similar to Bausch's rites of spring in terms of scenography.

Phoenix Dance Theatre (1981)

leic1_20 — 2021-05-10 00:08:35 UTC

WINDRUSH, MOVEMENT OF THE PEOPLE (2018): Exploring the arrival of the Windrush bringing the first Carribean migrants to the UK
-Explores, playfully, the history of racism Carribean migrants experienced after the second world war.
-Object choreography used
-Partner work used quite a lot
-Paired ensemble work
-Culturally rich, shown through movement(Carribean), places of origin.
-Popular Cultural references/dances of the time.

DV8 (1986)

leic1_20 — 2021-05-10 00:15:34 UTC

Lloyd Newson chose the term physical theatre to distance his work from formal structures of dance.
-Newson wanted to adress social/psychological/ political issues without the limitations of dance.
-Companies early work was physically challenging and aggressive. It then became more poetic and imagistic.
Text is then included aswell to create, verbatim theatre.
-More interested in voicing issues that affected people Newson interviewd than fiction.
-Performances became increasingly political, using verbatim techniques.
-Verbatim theatre is described through a scale, absolute verbatim and abstract verbatim. But in essence Verbatim Theatre is theatre made from people's words, verbatim theatre is usually created from the transcription of interviews with people who are connected to a common event or subject.

Introduction

leic1_20 — 2021-05-10 00:24:21 UTC

-Born in Wiepole during the Austrian-Hungarian Empire (from 1918, Poland)
-Studied fine art in Krakow
-Ran the underground independent theatre during Nazi occupation.
-In 1955 Kantor founded the Theatre Cricot 2, still partly in secret from the communist rule in Poland.
-Kantor was considered a propaganda tool during communist Poland.
-Kantor's work never supported communist agenda but didn't directly go against communism either.

A Soldier is carrying a painting on which it is painted that he is carrying a painting (1988)

leic1_20 — 2021-05-11 21:47:10 UTC

-Highlights representation
-How life goes on after trauma but you still carry that baggage around with you
-Mixture of object and paint, playing with representation. What represents something else and what is literally a wooden leg for example.
-Memories seem to be a recurring theme in his work.

Happenings

leic1_20 — 2021-05-11 21:55:33 UTC

-Blurring elements of fine art, performance and real life. Happenings are performances using everyday and chance structures.

The Water Hen

leic1_20 — 2021-05-11 22:20:06 UTC

-Actors seen in repetitive everyday tasks

Theatre of Death

leic1_20 — 2021-05-11 22:25:16 UTC

-Pieces that were specifically engaged with war and memories.
GLUHOVIC (2013:102)- 'Obsessive engagement with historical trauma, memory, and forgetting...Having directly experienced the Holocaust he sought to commemorate those staggering losses in the hope of a better future'

wielopole wielopole(1980)

leic1_20 — 2021-05-11 22:33:25 UTC

-Kantor's birthtown
-Stage recreation of childhood bedroom, fagmented 'Here this is the room of my childhood bedroom, this is the room which I keep reconstructing'- Kantor
-Recreates his parents wedding, uncles death and mother being raped by soldiers.
-Throughout the piece, soldiers interrupt the family celebrations.
-Actors emerge from wardrobe, Kantor is always present as a silent witness, highlighting representation.
-Powerful because of the autobiographical aspects.
-Piece consists of numerous tableaux
-Manipulation of people/actors like objects, unnerving, like dolls, stony eyed. Actors often lent against eachother like props.
-Lack of emotional connection to father figure.

Let the Artists Die (1985)

leic1_20 — 2021-05-11 23:39:14 UTC

-Won 1st prize at the 1985 Theatre Festival in Avignon.
-Kantor stages his own death
-Minimalistic set
-Recycles old set to echo previous work
-Reference to a masacre in WW2 in Katyn Forest Poland
-22,000 Polish citizens were executed by the soviet secret police in 1940 (used Nazi's as a scape goat)
-Kantor uses surreal and abstract approaches to divert from political trouble, very fragmented in work, draws more on emotional trauma and impact rather than distinct political points.
-Work socio-politically relevant without being didactic in nature.
-Based on Veit Stoss, 15th Century sculptor from Nuvemburg, who created an altar piece for the Krakow St Mary's Basilica.
-On his return home he was tortured in prison, because of debt.
-Performance critiqued how artists are treated by society.
-The piece features multiple dopplegangers of Kantor, including Kantor aged 6, admiring Marshall Pitsudski, a polish war hero responsible for Poland's independance after WW1.
-AUtobiographical
-Progressive because had both men and women playing Kantor at different stages of life.
-The stage presented multiple locations: A cemetry, Kantor's childhood bedroom and a killing field.
-Kantor identified as part Jewish, there are Catholic and Jewish influences throughout his work.
-An overlaying of transparent photographs, with echoes of previous performance works- this is how Kantor describes his scenography.

leic1_20 — 2021-05-11 23:43:29 UTC

With the first scene in place we used the script as a basis for the rest of the play and developed the piece into fragmented solo sections to show the different identities of the characters and their relevance. This all reaches a climax with a resolution of violence and death, the climax is presented after a series of repetitive movements are shown throughout the piece, getting faster more disjointed among the ensemble and then descending in complete chaos. This climax represents the pure frustration of gender roles and unrealistic beauty standards being thrust upon women within our society in such a forceful way. The movements are supposed to represent this growing frustration and the uncomfortable feeling of not feeling good about your body image or being in your own skin. This reaches a head when the movement sequence becomes chaotic and amalgamates in a group 'scream' before dropping to the floor to set up for the final scene.

End Tableu

leic1_20 — 2021-05-11 23:55:59 UTC

-Based on Delacroix's liberty leading the people (1830) as well as the Veit Stoss' altar.
-Kantor's tableu also refers to the polish uprising against the Russians in 1830.

A portrait of Theatre director, Tadeusz Kantor

leic1_20 — 2021-05-11 23:57:30 UTC

-Bio-object: when actor and object become one
-Kantor's presence on stage 'destroys the illusion' and thus breaks the 4th wall.
-Kantor is against the concept of illusion rejecting the actor 'acting', the actor is a hyperbole version of themselves. He accepts that theatre must involve both reality and illusion, hand in hand so his role as observer brings reality to his characters and productions. He is creating a literal link between performer and audience.
-Kantor repeats movement motifs throughout his shows.

Postdramatic Theatre

leic1_20 — 2021-05-12 00:00:46 UTC

A term by Hans-Thies Lehmen used to describe both Bausch and Kantor
GLUHOVIC (2013:103)
'A preference for the visual image over the written word, collage and montage rather than linear structure...a redefinition of the performer's function in terms of being and materiality rather than mimetic imitation'
-Music reminiscent of childhood/memories with both Kantor and Bausch.

leic1_20 — 2021-05-12 00:01:05 UTC

The devising process was not chronological, we started with the first scene and then jumped around, devising different sections of movement we could use and then linking them together with a repeated movement motif that changes every time in regards to pace and how the movements are presented to the audience.

The Dead Class (1975)

leic1_20 — 2021-05-12 19:47:27 UTC

-The Dead Class is based on a short story: An old man returns to first grade at the end of his life, in possession of a wax dummy which he carries on his back, this dummy represents him as a child.

The Holocaust in the Dead Class

leic1_20 — 2021-05-12 20:24:39 UTC

ROMANSKA (2012:200)
'The pupils are ghosts, memories of what could have been. Dead class (...) refers to their tragic adolesence- the Holocaust and WWII, during most of which perished'

Bio Objects

leic1_20 — 2021-05-12 20:25:11 UTC

'Kantor theorized the “bio-object”, that is to say the symbiosis of live and artificial elements in order to create a plastic form that eliminated the distinctions and the hierarchy of the usual senses.'- Brunella Eruli (2012)
- In Wielopole Wielopole (1980), the bedridden 'uncle' is portrayed as a bio-object: bed and human are merged to portray the final stages of illness
- In The Dead Class (1975), a performer acts as a person at a window, holding up a wooden frame by his face.
KANTOR (2015) in Legierska
'The window hides many obscure secrets. The window inspires fear and premonitions of what is outside'
-Below is an image of the bed contraption that made up the bed-ridden uncle and bed as a Bio-Object, in the image the performer is flipped so that he is left facing the floor but still strapped to the bed, he is still one with the object.

leic1_20 — 2021-05-12 20:29:16 UTC

We used a mixture of different movements and use of props to present all the forms of opression on women, trying to visual enhance the audience. SOme movements were drastic and other points of the play was very minimal, we chose not to use a lengthy set of lighting states so as to not take away from the messages we were trying to portray.

The Dead Class- Recording

leic1_20 — 2021-05-12 20:39:24 UTC

-The Dead Class was recorded for film in the Krzysztofory gallery in Krakow in 1976 by Andrejz Wajda

leic1_20 — 2021-05-12 20:48:17 UTC

Cafe Muller (Bausch)

leic1_20 — 2021-05-12 20:49:44 UTC

The performance begins in complete blackout and then progresses with unsettling figures in white walking blindly around the set (one of them being Bausch), they are unaware of the ensemble and other performers on stage, almost as if they are sleep walking. This could be representative of the turning of the ‘blind eye’ towards the traumas of the second world war, in the aftermath, as it is considered an autobiographical piece presented by Bausch of her childhood, growing up in Germany. Throughout the piece there are crescendos and diminuendos of movement in regards to pace and repetition in movement to present physical exhaustion of the performers, this can be seen with the expression of the vitality of human interaction between the couple, perhaps symbolic of death and rebirth. Organised chaos is produced throughout to garner an emotive reaction from the audience and to also present individual physicality’s to characterise each performer’s role. Luke Jennings perfectly describes the repetitive actions and the contextualisation behind these movements in his article ‘The true face of modernism: Café Muller and the Rite of Spring/Tanztheater Wupertal’- (the performers seem) “Trapped in an existential tape loop, they endlessly reprise their actions and interactions.”

Kontakthof (Bausch)

leic1_20 — 2021-05-12 20:50:18 UTC

Kontakthof is set in what can only be described as a rectangular, dark studio space, perhaps the minimal set is to not takeaway from the socio-political messages the piece embraces throughout. Kontakthof is wholly based around the ideas of yearning for intimacy and the ideology surrounding gender norms in regards to heterosexual relationships and how they are thrust upon people within society. As Philippa Wehle states ‘the group creates a social universe of cold automatism in which conventionality betrays the frantic search for intimacy, desire, and inexpressible longing. Couple’s form and immediately separate’- There seems to be a continuous, desperate attempt by the performers throughout to please the audience, uncomfortable yet forced and very direct. This can be seen most notably where each performer individually addresses the audience singularly with a physical movement drawing focus to the mouth and then further after the ‘intermission’ where the whole ensemble do a repetitive dance movement that disintegrates to just one performer doing the ensemble movement alone whilst the rest of the ensemble sit at the back of the performance space directly facing the audience; there is something about the repetitive nature of the physical movements throughout especially in this intersection that present this need for validation from the audience and the other performers in the space. This not only makes for uncomfortable viewing but really iterates the idea of yearning for intimacy and reaction, a relationship built between audience and cast.

Wielopole Wielopole (Kantor)

leic1_20 — 2021-05-12 20:53:59 UTC

Wielopole Wielopole is a powerful piece presented by Kantor in 1980 about life and death, death is a continuous omni-present theme and includes a series of ‘photographs’ or the act of miming taking pictures to reiterate the autobiographical narrative points Kantor makes. It incorporates Kantor’s ‘Theatre of Death’ very powerfully and shows some incredibly personal, autobiographical segments throughout the piece in an abstract and physically driven way. One segment that really stood out to me as an audience member is the prevalent theme of Kantor’s absent father, this is most noticeable in one scene that presents the ‘father’ figure and he does not say anything audible throughout the scene, he is presented as very rigid and cold. Further militant music is overshadowing the scene and introduces a powerful juxtaposition for the audience. It also gives audience a deeper insight into Kantor’s own psyche. Mannequins as well as actors are used throughout the performance to ‘double’ as some of the characters, they really give a more visual enhancement to Kantor’s work and the manipulation of mannequins reiterate Kantor’s Theatre of Death proposition, perhaps representing lifeless bodies. Kantor acts as an observer in many of his plays to produce a link between audience and actor ‘A sensible interpretation of the role is given by Kantor himself. He says that he is on stage to control the interaction between illusion and reality taking place during performance.’- extract taken from ‘Tadeusz Kantor's Journey’.

The Dead Class (Kantor)

leic1_20 — 2021-05-12 20:54:25 UTC

The Dead class is a show that explores how one cannot return to their childhood and the loss that is concluded of this, throughout the show elderly male performers desperately try to reimburse themselves into their memories and their childhoods, they travel around the space carrying mannequins and backpacks on their backs. Age regression and memories are reoccurring themes in a lot of Kantor’s work but most significantly in Dead Class, there is a reconstruction of a classroom using wooden desks and chairs. Classical music such as the Francois Waltz are eerily played throughout the piece, giving an uncomfortable but nostalgic undertone for the audience to take in, although the music contrasts the playfulness of the classroom setting it kind of reiterates the idea of loss when you evolve from childhood and can never get that innocence back, it brings forth the concept that children are shielded and protected from the harsh realities from the world and when you come to that realisation, you can never get it back. Not only is this a key theme in The Dead Class but Kantor also throws in some historical context and perhaps hints at the childhoods that were stolen from Jewish children and victims in the Second World War ‘Kantor included in the lesson from ‘The Dead Class’ the tragic history of the Jewish nation which took place on Polish soil during the last war. (…) The mannequins thrown into a fire bring to mind the extermination of a nation. A metal ball rhythmically rattles in a cradle, from which a baby’s cry should be coming’.

The Circus

leic1_20 — 2021-05-12 20:55:16 UTC

Ring Master: Isaac Boyden (stepped in by Jamie Shaw last minute)
Contestant No.1: Issy Price
Contestant No.2: Natalia Ptaszynska
Conestant No.3: Freya Webb
Contestant No.4: Corinne Leigh-Hewitson
Contestant No.5: Conna Jeffs

leic1_20 — 2021-05-12 21:03:35 UTC

The Circus: Analysis

leic1_20 — 2021-05-12 21:04:26 UTC

Our devised performance was inspired mostly by Pina Bausch and her plethora of work. For instance we used direct address to the audience, this can be seen when my character (contestant number 4) directly addresses the audience with her statistics but also throughout as the ‘ring master’ is always aware and addresses the audience as if they are involved in the spectacle. Gesture is also incorporated a lot into our piece to represent the conformity and the control thrust on the women, it is used to identify each character so that the audience can make comparisons, gesture is predominantly used in the first scene to distinguish each character but can also be seen in the solo performance of contestant number 4 by the ensemble to reiterate the strong views her character holds despite being opressed. The use of repetition is used throughout- it is especially seen in the transitional segments of the piece where the same movement is repeated until the actors are exhausted, this prevelant at the end as the actors descend into chaos, it also breaks down these conventional ideas of dance and always being in time with each other, which is very Bauschian if you will. As a group we tried to address throughout the socio-political theme of gender roles, more importantly directed at female gender roles and female’s role in society, ideas of binarism and how women are presented as house wife’s, highlighting very old ideals that unfortunately still exist today. Fragmentation is also used in the sense that there is no defined narrative, the stories are interwoven together but there is no specific beginning, middle and end structure, the segments are interchangeable. Much like Bausch’s work. Finally we took inspiration from Kantor, having the ‘ring-master’ as the silent observer (apart from the first scene), often coming out of the action to observe and then going back in to manipulate the performers much like a puppeteer.

KANTOR (1993:240)

leic1_20 — 2021-05-12 21:16:23 UTC

'There must be a very close, almost biological symbiosis between an actor and an object. In the simplest case, the actor must do everything for the OBJECT to stay visible. In the most radical case, the actor and the object must become one. I call this state a Bio-Object.'

Der Fensterputzer (The Window Washer) 1997

leic1_20 — 2021-05-12 21:30:24 UTC

-Bausch uses real natural materials in her work and this is no exception.
- In the window washer, Bausch uses a very visually appealing and scenic design that the performers can work with and against with the materials scattered.
-There seems to be a strong motif of colour in this piece that could represent celebration perhaps?

Masurca Fogo(1998)

leic1_20 — 2021-05-13 16:15:14 UTC

GUARDIAN REVIEW:
'Compared to the nightmares of Bausch's earlier work, It feels like a summer holiday'

Visceral and apocalyptic environments (CODY 1998:116)

leic1_20 — 2021-05-13 16:16:26 UTC

-Water, leaves, rock, earth- natural materials in excess are scattered and flood the stage to create obstacles for the dancers.

Two Cigarettes in the Dark (1985)

leic1_20 — 2021-05-13 16:18:27 UTC

Animals

leic1_20 — 2021-05-13 16:19:07 UTC

PINA BAUSCH website- 'Animals-real or copied-...represent nature, but...also the inner nature of feeling'

Vollmond (2006)- Full Moon

leic1_20 — 2021-05-13 16:21:14 UTC

-Moving from painful to playful, full moon is about lust, excess, about life and death and the eternal yearning for intimacy
KOZEL (2013:303)
'The water that covers the stage is a real force in opposition to the dancers. They are too occupied working against resistances'

Rites of Spring (1975)

leic1_20 — 2021-05-13 16:29:49 UTC

JENNINGS (2008)
'There is an implicit sense of rape and, interlaced with the pounding fury and self-hatred, a whisper of the nightmare worlds of Belsen and Treblinka. The victim almost seems to dissolve with terror'

Pina Bausch- QUestion and Answer Technique

leic1_20 — 2021-05-13 16:32:40 UTC

Pina asked her dancers difficult questions and the dancers responded in text, sound or physical movement or an amalgamation of the 3.

Practical

leic1_20 — 2021-05-13 16:34:14 UTC

* For example, after reading the above statement, we explored the idea of:
copying someone else's habits.
Doing something you're ashamed of.
Writing your name with movement.
Moving your favourite body part.
How does one behave when we have lost something?

leic1_20 — 2021-05-13 16:36:44 UTC

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