UCCA presents German modern dance choreographer Pina Bausch's two piece of works. Cafe Muller is considered one of Bausch's most autobiographical works, representing her Tanztheater style of dance. Unlike her dance video works, The Complaint of an Empress is the one and only film directed by Pina Bausch which presents and explores love in a fragmental and chaotic way.

January 7, January 10

19:00 Cafe Muller 50mins, No Dialogue

January 28, January 31

19:00 The Complaint of an Empress 100mins

*Mainland China Premiere

Pina Bausch (1940-2009), German dancer and choreographer, one of the most influential avant-garde artists on the European dance scene. She began her dance studies at the age of 14 with Kurt Jooss. Bausch was the artistic director of the Tanztheater Wuppertal, which she founded in 1973. She had a formidable international reputation as one of modern dance's greatest innovators. Her dance-theatre works include the melancholic Café Müller (1978), in which dancers stumble around the stage crashing into tables and chairs, and a thrilling Rite of Spring (1975), which required the stage to be completely covered with soil. Nelken (2005) was performed on a floor covered in flowers, while Palermo Palermo (1989) featured a line of dancers with apples balanced on their heads. Another of her works, Kontakthof (1978), was performed by an ensemble aged between 58 and 77.

Bausch continued to perform as a dancer throughout her 60s. In June 2009, she died of an unstated form of cancer in Wuppertal five days after diagnosis.

Cafe Muller

1978, Germany, Choreographer: Pina Bausch, 50 min, No Dialogue

Thursday, Jan.7, 19:00

Sunday, Jan.10, 19:00

Synopsis

A monotonous, gloomy café space is entirely represented on the stage with round café tables and chairs. There is a big vitreous revolving door in the background. Two dancers, one stands sideways in the deep of the stage, nearly can’t be seen. One stands at the front. Three men dressed up with black civvies moved among tables and chairs. Someone was separated brutally, someone fell down and be held up constantly. A woman with red hair crashed in, everything was getting quiet again.

Dance piece created by Pina Bausch based on her experiences in post-War Germany. Café Müller is considered one of Bausch's most autobiographical works, reflecting her father's café, where she spent many hours watching the ways the adults tried to survive in a devastated and dislocated society.

The Complaint of an Empress

1990,Germany, Pina Bausch, 100mins

Thursday, Jan.28, 19:00

Sunday, Jan.31, 19:00

*Mainland China Premiere

Synopsis

The Complaint of an Empress was produced between October 1987 and April 1989. It is the first film by choreographer Pina Bausch. The general framework is set by the changing seasons - autumn, winter and spring. The film's inner structure reflects Pina Bausch's method of working as developed with the Wuppertal Theatre of Dance during the 1973/74 season.

The film consequently does not tell a story, but is made up of various scenes put together as a collage reflecting certain moods and invoking different associations. The film scenes, some of which are thoroughly absurd, are set in different locations, such as the woods and fields around Wuppertal, the city centre, the suspension railway, a carpet shop, a greenhouse and the rehearsal room in a former cinema.

COOPERATION PARTNER

Goethe Institute