Five older dancers are dressed in suits and ball gowns. They move in a circle in a room that resembles an old building, their palms resting on their pelvises. In the background is a row of chairs and blue images on a screen.

Dance

Pina Bausch / Meryl Tankard

Kontakthof - Echoes of '78

A production by Sadler's Wells / Pina Bausch Foundation/ Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch

Tickets:

56/44/36/24/14 Euro (conq. from 9 Euro, [k]-Karte from 7 Euro)

Past dates

Archive

Sunday

11/16/25

5:00 PM

2 Stunden, inkl. Pause

FAZ Artikel

Arte TV

46 years after the premiere of Pina Bausch‘s iconic piece KONTAKTHOF, Meryl Tankard, a dancer from the original cast, returns to the stage with eight colleagues from back then. In a fascinating dialogue with the past, they dance segments of the choreography once again, accompanied by historical video recordings. What appears to be a tribute turns out to be an independent work full of power, dignity and magic. An extraordinary evening that shows how bodies preserve memories – and how dance can transcend generations.

»Kontakthof is a place where people meet who are searching for contact. To show yourself, to deny yourself. With fears. Desire. Disappointments. Desperation. First Experiences. First attempts. Tenderness and what arises from it was an important theme in the work. Another, for example, was circus. Showing part of yourself, to overcome oneself.«
» «
Pina Bausch

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Older dancers in ball gowns and suits run barefoot with their arms outstretched in front of them, forming an “O”-like shape. Behind them, people are projected onto a large screen, striking similar poses.

In front of a large, old-looking projection of men in suits stretching their hands diagonally downward in front of them and alternately showing their palms up and down, dancers assume the same formation.

Two dancers in long silky dresses tilt their heads in opposite directions. They hold their hands close to their ears. Behind them is a huge projection of two dancers in a similar position.

Several dancers stand in a row wearing ball gowns and suits, crossing their legs as they strut. A similar image is projected large in the background.

Two dancers sit next to each other in an otherwise empty row of chairs. One has turned her head toward the other, who appears to be crying with a handkerchief in her hand. In the background, there is a similar-looking image on a large surface.

Several dancers in ball gowns and suits are performing a movement in which they tilt their arms above their heads to the side, like grass blowing in the wind. A similar image is projected in the background.

Press photos - Pina Bausch / Meryl Tankard Kontakthof: Echoes of '78

With: Pina Bausch / Meryl Tankard

Conception, Stage Production, Conception Video Meryl Tankard with Elisabeth Clarke, Josephine Ann Endicott, Lutz Förster, John Giffin, Ed Kortlandt, Beatrice Libonati, Anne Martin, Arthur Rosenfeld, Meryl Tankard Original archive footage Rolf Borzik Video Editor Kenny Ang Design Projections YeastCulture Light Design Ryan Joseph Stafford Sounddesign David McEwan Artistic Assistant of Meryl Tankard Cristiana Morganti Artistic Collaboration Bénédicte Billiet Rehearsal Assistent and Rehearsal Dancer Sophia Otto

Premiere 26th November 2024, Opernhaus Wuppertal

Co-produced with Amare-The Hague, LAC Lugano Arte e Cultura, Festspielhaus St. Pölten, Seongnam Arts Center and China Shanghai International Arts Festival and supported as a contribution to the preparation of the Pina Bausch Centre with funds from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media, the Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia and the City of Wuppertal.

Pina Bausch / Meryl Tankard

Kontakthof - Echoes of '78

Past dates

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