Thursday, October 10, 1996
DANCE:
Experimental group portrays America in its glories and foiblesBy
Elizabeth Bull
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
Last year German choreographer Pina Bausch came to L.A. to
tackle the American west.
And after visiting every known landmark from Olvera Street to a
UCLA basketball practice, she left with a long-awaited piece, "Nur
Du (Only You)" Â both a tribute and a criticism of Los Angeles
and the west.
Now she and her company, Tanztheater Wuppertal, known for its
unique and imaginative choreography, is back to perform the
commissioned work at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion this
weekend.
Created during Bausch’s UCLA residency and visits to other
western cities, "Only You" reflects her take on the west’s culture
 food, people and places. At UCLA Bausch hoped to become a
part of L.A. and the west before she put into dance what she
felt.
"Her process was to come here open and she took in a lot," says
Judy Mitoma, director of World Arts and Cultures. "She is a very
discriminating person with penetrating observation skills and
whatever she comes up with may not be literally something we will
recognize as ‘the west’ Â but it will be provocative."
Bausch’s company, founded in 1975 in Wuppertal, Germany, is
well-known throughout the dance world for its innovative modern
movements and mix of dance, theater and many music genres. "Nur Du"
combines tangos and waltzes with music by Duke Ellington and Harry
Connick Jr. on a stage with seven full size Redwood trees, a whale
and four white mice  an unlikely combination only Tanztheater
Wuppertal could create.
But, with this imaginative force, comes the risk of appearing
strange and foreign to audiences used to more traditional modern
dance.
During the 1984 Olympics, the last time Tanztheater Wuppertal
danced in L.A., many audience members left the performance,
claiming it was too shocking and strange.
But, according to Mitoma, this shocking nature is what makes
Bausch so brilliant  she makes an audience uncomfortable to
simply find out what makes them uncomfortable in the first place.
She uses her talent not to create pretty, forgettable dances, but
provocative, erotic movements.
"She has a company of dancers with great technical skill and
they are beautiful dancers but what they do on the stage isn’t very
beautiful and isn’t necessarily typical dance," Mitoma explains.
"So the dancers have this embodied talent that is used in a
dramatic/theatrical way  they do everything to the extreme
 some of the choreography seems abusive to the human body,
unkind. It is driving  things we wouldn’t think of doing.
"But it’s the extreme nature of that gesture of movement that
really provokes you as a viewer."
Now, more than a decade after the Olympic performance, Bausch
and her company hope to return to L.A. with not only a new piece,
but a new piece with all of the emotions of the city behind it.
"In L.A. we hope to start a dialogue with the people," Matthias
Schmiegelt, general manager of Tanztheater Wuppertal, says. "When
we were here in 1984 people weren’t expecting something like Pina
… But I’m interested in talking with the city again. I feel that
L.A. is so open because there is such a variety of different people
and origins."
This diversity in L.A. was what originally drew the company to
UCLA for its residency. While here, Tanztheater Wuppertal rehearsed
in the Dance Building, giving both undergraduate and graduate World
Arts and Cultures students the chance to observe a professional
dance company create a major work.
"We can talk about training people to be professional, but
actually seeing people create a new work was critical," Mitoma says
of the residency.
"Our students could tell these were mature, professional artists
and how they conducted themselves, how they rehearsed, and how they
treated their artistic director was one of the most important
things a student can learn." she says.
But, according to Schmiegelt, the Bausch residency also gave the
company a fresh perspective on the way dancing is taught at a large
university.
"We wanted a flow of information from all directions. At UCLA we
learned how students were learning about dance. It was wonderful
because so many kinds of dancers were all incorporated into one
department  Korean dance, Mexican dance, Flamenco dance all
in one.
"There were all these students doing research and trying to get
dance to move forward in many different ways."
This month, Bausch’s company will come back to UCLA to conduct a
workshop and question and answer session. The workshop will focus
on what it takes to maintain a dance company and Schmiegelt hopes
it will clear up the image people have of Tanztheater
Wuppertal.
"People have this idea that we’re like some ’60s theater
troupe," he says. "They think we are like a big family just
traveling around. It’s much more complex than that."
In actuality, the company’s success relies less on the magic
people associate with the company, but on outside financial help
and support from organizations like UCLA’s Center for Performing
Arts. Even with subsidizes from the city of Wuppertal, the company
finds it difficult to continue creating site-specific works of such
high quality and large scale without help from other
foundations.
"Nur Du," commissioned by an unusual alliance of Southern
California groups and four universities  UCLA, UC Berkeley,
the University of Texas and Arizona State University  had an
approximate budget of $1.2 million. And though Tanztheater
Wuppertal is thankful for the help, some question whether or not
such funds should be given to a foreign company when arts funding
is so low in the U.S. At the U.S. premiere in Berkeley a small
group of students marched outside the production in protest against
the collaboration for "Nur Du," claiming money should first go to
student and local works.
But this does not deter Bausch and her company. In fact,
according to Schmiegelt, the group was even glad to see students so
worked up over dance.
"It was a fantastic experience  to see people so
passionate about dance," he says.
"I mean, it’s life, it’s controversial. We’re not in
church."
This attitude is perhaps the backbone of Tanztheater Wuppertal.
Bausch constantly pushes the group to the extreme, questioning
traditional dance and theater  revealing that controversy and
protest is the true essence of her choreography.
"Pina pushes the audience," Mitoma explains. "So her dancing is
not neutral. What she does is never neutral.
"Sometimes, things that become familiar just keep passing by us
without moving or changing us. But, when an artist like this moves
you, it is a way to test your own metal. It’s a barometer. You
cannot be ambivalent."
DANCE: "Nur Du" by Tanztheater Wuppertal plays Oct. 10, 11, and
12 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, Oct. 13 at 2 p.m. at the Dorothy Chandler
Pavilion. There is a student discount with valid I.D. Call (310)
825-2101 for more information.
UWE STRATMANN
UCLA Center for the Performing Arts presents a new piece by Pina
Bausch of Tanztheater Wuppertal, "Nur Du" (Only You).
"In L.A. we hope to start a dialogue with the people."
Matthias Schmiegelt
General Manager