Eccentric artist given free rein in tribute to L.A.

Eccentric artist given free rein in tribute to L.A.

German choreographer Pina Bausch looks forward to portraying
city’s unique lifestyle

By Emily Forster

Daily Bruin Contributor

It is raining, but Pina Bausch’s long, dark hair is not slicked
back because of the weather.

Although the German dancer now makes choreography her
profession, she continues to keep her hair pulled back from her
pale face and dark eyes in typical dancer-like fashion.

But that’s about the only aspect of Bausch that could be
described as "typical."

Bausch’s eccentric work has captured the attention of the world,
including Los Angeles. The city in fact is so enraptured by
Bausch’s choreography that it has commissioned her to do a piece
inspired by Los Angeles and other major cities in America’s
southwest.

In an alliance with six major cultural institutions in the
region, $1.2 million has been raised for the project which will be
performed in October of 1996. From the UCLA Center for the
Performing Arts, to the James A. Doolittle’s Southern California
Theatre Association, to the Music Center of L.A. County, collegiate
and cultural institutions have come together to give the American
stage a breath of fresh air.

"I think it’s very important for major art institutions,
throughout this country or anywhere else, to support artists to
create new works," says Shelton Stanfield, president of the Music
Center of Los Angeles County. "The most difficult thing that
companies face is finding the time to create so that they can bring
new things to the audiences."

The unique choreographer has become a success, but she remembers
that she was not always so appreciated for her unusual work.
Solemnly donned in all black, Bausch explains that her unusual work
was not welcomed or well-liked when her company, Tanztheater
Wuppertal, first began performing.

"At first the people of Wuppertal did not support the company,"
recalls Bausch. "They thought my dancing was strange and had no
aesthetic value."

The town of Wuppertal, which Bausch’s company calls home, was
one of the last places to accept and enjoy Bausch’s world-renowned
choreography, because although it does have aesthetic value, it is
indeed strange.

Bausch’s dances are described as "dance theater" because they
are neither strictly modern nor classical. In some pieces of her
work the stage is virtually void of dancing, but her style could
not be classified as theater. There is some connection between the
pieces, but through dialogue and repetitive movements, not a
narrative.

Past Bausch performances have included a male dancer telling a
story of his training a goldfish to live on land and how it died
when he put it back in the water, a female dancer calling out to
male dancers, "Kiss me! Touch me!" and slapping them when they
comply, and a ballerina removing her toe shoes, inserting chunks of
raw meat in them, and then replacing them to perform a series of
plies and pirouettes.

Since Bausch first made her unusual modern dance theater impact
20 years ago, countries throughout the world have longed to watch
Tanztheater Wuppertal perform a piece inspired by their
country.

Buenos Aires, Rome and Madrid are among the cities Bausch has
honored with a performance tailored to their architecture, people
and general lifestyle.

Now Los Angeles gets a turn, and it is very eager. Bausch’s
company has three weeks to explore the city, during which the
choreographer will search to bring new things to audiences in a
very casual way.

"We will just go around with open eyes, open ears, and our
feelings," explains Bausch. "Then we will go back to Wuppertal and
create something out of all that we experienced."

The company will visit dance clubs, talk with city officials
like the police, and study people on the street, but they will find
their usual exploration of cities more challenging here than in
Europe.

"Here everyone drives," says Bausch. "In cities where we have to
pass through many different parts to get to our theater, we have
found a better sense of the people. Here things are different."

Many people are curious to see what else Bausch finds different
about Los Angeles, because it gives the city a chance to see itself
through a foreigner’s point of view.

"It reminds me of my desire for people to be really honest and
tell me the truth," explains Judy Mitoma, chairwoman and professor
of the Department of World Arts and Cultures at UCLA. "In Pina’s
work, we know that there is no compromise. There is only truth.
Some of it will be wonderful and we will like to hear it, and some
of it will be messages that we won’t like to hear."

In response to compliments like these, Bausch reminds people
that her work was "just made by little humans."

But the city of Los Angeles is counting on these little humans
to do a great service when they perform their piece.

"We need a company like this on the stages of the Music Center,"
says Stanfield. "The Music Center is a wonderful community that
represents fine arts, but it needs new life, it needs new views, it
desperately needs something like this."

There is in fact so much trust that Bausch will give our
community what it needs, that she has been given no rules or
guidelines.

"Nobody has told me ‘You have to do it like this,’" says Bausch.
"I would not have accepted that."

Some would say Bausch’s refusal to compromise her strange style
for anyone has made her a success, but she feels that she is
considered one of the world’s greatest choreographers because she
has never given anything less than her full effort.

"You can only do the very best that you can do," explains
Bausch. "That’s all. There’s no recipe."

Although Bausch cannot give UCLA students specific steps toward
forcing the world to accept their eccentric styles or just achieve
general success, Mitoma is confident that Bausch’s presence will be
enough.

"There is not a single artist working in this country who does
not know her contributions," says Mitoma. "Her ability to push us,
to force us to look at new ways to dance takes courage. We want our
students to be near that courage."

DANCE: Tanztheater Wuppertal will perform Bausch’s new work at
the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion from October 10-12.

Bausch Pic AComments to [email protected]