Pina Bausch: Modern Dance

Modern dance is the rebellious half of ballet, which dancers use to express freedom and disregard all restrictions and send a message through their body and emotions. Historical dancers disregarded ballet etiquettes and created their own way of expressing socio economic, cultural and ethnic factors that were going on around the time modern dance involved. One of those dancer is Pina Bausch, a leading influence in the era of modern dance, translates her childhood growing up in Germany during war and the Natzi era through Cafe Muller. The performer uses in her piece the ambiance of her father’s cafe in Germany during Word War II. Through the ambiance of her childhood memories in Cafe muller, Pina Bausch choose irregular and intense movements
There are three men and three women in cafe muller, all six of them wore different kind of clothing. Bausch, which is one of the three women in the piece wore a loose satin white dress that looks like a nightgown and danced barefoot. One of the men wore a loose white shirt, a trouser and also was bare foot, while the two other men dressed in suits. We can notice in the back of the stage another woman wearing a loose dress that she repeatedly took off and put back on using fast and slow movements; Another lady in the center of the stage by the man in the suit wore a dress, overcoat, and heels which signify the bourgeoisie of this era. Although, we might think that different clothing style might affect the attitude and the relationship between the performers due to different social class level, the dancers in the piece showed a strong relationship of trust and fondness between each
The movement of the dancers and the changes in the props location across the stage gives the illusion of fast and slow motion of the image. Pina uses a lot of dynamic movements in her choreography and follows it by stillness and a moment of pause and then back to the tension again. We also notice Pina’s body melting and regaining life back again. This rhythm in Bausch’s movements indicates devastation and the sentiment of confusion in Pina’s mind. Mainly in her performance, Pina focused on arm styling. She attracts the audience by positioning and moving her arms in different direction. Expanding and contracting her arms gives the illusion that she’s calling someone or something over. She also, hugs herself tightly and relaxes after which indicates the call for love and affection in the piece. In addition, to Bausch’s movements that indicate attachment, we can see the repetition of the combinations of the couple facing upstage. The lady is being put into the man’s arms over and over again while trying to walk away indicating attachment or commitment to the same issue or