"Dance does not need to be explained," says Pina Bausch. "However, it is true that Le Laveur de Vitres is joyful, humorous and airy. Where does this happiness come from ? I don't know. I would be very interested to find out. When I started out, all of my performances were different from each other. At a certain moment in time, I felt I was on a wave, seeking energy. When I did Tanzabend II, La Piece au Bateau and Ein Trauerspiel, it was one sombre piece after another. Then I went back to dance. And the wave rose towards more joy." In October 1996, Pina Bausch and her company spent three weeks in Hong Kong to put together a performance for the Festival being prepared for the big events during the handover to China in June 1997. In the streets, the choreographer/ director was particularly struck by the window cleaners who, at vertiginous heights, were cleaning the glass facades of the sky-scrapers. On her return to Wuppertal, she created and directed a piece that was performed for the first time in Hong Kong. Then she took it to Rome, Palermo, Madrid, Vienna and Los Angeles. Le Laveur de Vitres is the sixth piece co-produced by the Wuppertal Tanztheater with a city whose personality inspired the work-in-progress. Of all Pina Bausch's pieces, this is one that has a singular significance because it involves more directly than others a confrontation with a very different culture and because it is tied to a particular historical moment, that is barely visible but is threaded throughout the performance: the return to Beijing of a territory that for more than 150 years had been a British possession. Of course, Le Laveur de Vitres, is just a starting point. A window cleaner does feature on stage, perched on high, in a decor where Peter Pabst uses all the dimensions of the space and where part of that is occupied by a mountain of rose petals. Nothing, apart from elements of the sound track and no person, refers directly to Hong Kong. Pina Bausch forges ahead with her danced and sometimes narrated tale of modern-day relations between women and men in a world that lays bare illusions and conventions. The effects of surprise and repetition incessantly punctuate Russian-doll-action constantly bringing forth new emotions and new gags, and where the dancers lend the same intensity to their undanced movements and those that are part of a choreography. After memorable appearances in 1981, 1983 and 1995, The Wuppertal Tanztheater is back at Avignon with a performance that has been adapted for the Cour d'honneur, giving it new life.
Distribution
choreography Pina Bausch
stage direction Pina Bausch
directed by Pina Bausch
choreography Pina Bausch
decor : Peter Pabst
costumes : Marion Cito
music : Matthias Burkert, Andreas Eisenschneider
assistants to the director : Marion Cito, Irene Martinez Rios, Jan Minarik
cast : Regina Advento, Ruth Amarante, Rainer Behr, Andrey Berezin, Stephan Brinkmann, Raphaëlle Delaunay, Mechthild Grossmann, Chrystel Guillebeaud, Na Young Kim, Daphnis Kokkinos, Beatrice Libonati, Bernd Marszan, Eddie Martinez, Dominique Mercy, Pascal Merighi, Jan Minarik, Cristina Morganti, Nazareth Panadero, Helena Pikon, Fabien Prioville, Jorge Puerta Armenta, Azusa Seyama, Julie Stanzak, Michael Strecker, Fernando Suels, Aida Vainieri
Production
coproduction : Hong Kong Arts Festival Society, Goethe Institut Hong Kong, Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch.
remerciements à : Yang Yee, Uwe Nitschke, Grace Lang, Lau Kin Wai, Willy Tsao, Kau Ng, Afa Chiang, Mok Chiu Yu, Kevin Ho, Kwong Wai Lap, William Tang, Tanya Tan, Liao Yo Lan, Chan Kim Fung, Margaret Carlson, To Lui, Lilan Wu et aux employés des Archives musicales de l'Academie des Arts vivants et de l'Université chinoise de Hong Kong, de la Radio-Télévision de Hong Kong, et à tous nos amis qui ont pris le temps de nous montrer leur vue de Hong Kong.
Création le : 12 février 1997.
Edition : L'Arche, Paris