Corporeality and Materiality in Pina Bausch’s Tanztheater: Notions of the Irreparable

Abstract

The repeated use by many critics of the words ‘visceral’ and ‘intense’ or ‘intensity’ was notable in the reviews of the 2008 visit of Pina Bausch’s Wuppertal Tanztheater to Sadler’s Wells Theatre, where the company performed Café Müller and The Rite of Spring. For me, these are ‘catch all’ terms that point to the importance of the materiality of Bausch’s dancers’ bodies, but to a certain extent they hide as much as they reveal. In this chapter I intend to explore the ways in which Bausch’s works mine corporeal materiality and in the process expose the complexities that surround these notions.