01/ 15/ 2012
When the credits rolled after Wim Wender’s 3-D film PINA, Juliet’s most famous line rang out in my thoughts. Instead of pining for Romeo, Pina Bausch’s dancers longed for their Artistic Director: “O Pina, Pina, wherefore art thou Pina?” Clearly the film was more than a documentary. It was a testament of the love that develops between a dancer and a choreographer.
Prior to Bausch’s sudden death in 2009, Wender and Bausch planned to make the film together. They selected four featured works for the project: “Café Müller”, “Le Sacre du printemps”, “Vollmond” and “Kontakthof,” and planned to build the documentary around these pieces. Thinking the project died with Bausch, Wender stopped production. After some time though, he decided to go through with the project. In addition to the selected pieces, Wender re-envisioned the film by incorporating archival footage of Bausch choreographing and solos from her company members. What Wender created was something volatile and visually astonishing.
He filmed PINA in 3-D for a reason: to fully capture the density, volume and beauty of each space. In this way, the movie is site-specific. You feel like you’re right there, watching each piece as it was filmed. Because you’re so close to each dance, you can see Bausch’s presence through the choreography, musical score and sets more acutely. More importantly though, her ensemble of dancers are her legacy—and it is through them that Bausch is most present.
The dancer’s testimonies are the most powerful part of PINA. Generally, each one told of how Bausch had changed them as artist, often including a personal story. One that sticks with me is from Anna Wehsarg. She danced apologetically and was intimidated by her director until one rehearsal, where Bausch said, “Why are you so afraid of me? What have I done to you?” After this, Wehsarg began to trust Bausch and artistically matured.
The evidence of Bausch’s influence on the company and the dance community is abundant. PINA is a love story, one so rare and special that even a movie can’t define it, only describe it.
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