Goethe brings the life and times of Pina Bausch

In its online film screening series, Goethe Institute in Colombo will feature ‘Pina’, a feature length dance film with the ensemble of the Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina

Bausch, featuring the unique and inspiring art of the great German choreographer.

PINA is a film for Pina Bausch by Wim Wenders. He takes the audience on a sensual, visually stunning journey of discovery into a new dimension: straight onto the stage with the legendary Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch ensemble, he follows the dancers out of the theatre into the city and the surrounding areas of Wuppertal - the place, which for 35 years was the home and centre for Pina Bausch’s creativity.

In 1973, Bausch started as artistic director of the Wuppertal Opera ballet, as the Tanztheater Wuppertal and was run as an independent company. The company has a large repertoire of original pieces, and regularly tours throughout the world from its home base of the Opernhaus Wuppertal. It was renamed later: Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch.

In 1983, she played the role of La Principessa Lherimia in Federico Fellini’s film And the Ship Sails On. The Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch made its American debut in Los Angeles as the opening performance of the 1984 Olympic Arts Festival.

In 2009, Bausch started to collaborate with film director Wim Wenders on a 3D documentary, Pina. The film premiered at the Berlin Film Festival in 2011.

Wim Wenders came to international prominence as one of the pioneers of the New German Cinema during the 1970s and is considered to be one of the most important figures in contemporary German film. In addition to his many prize-winning feature films, his work as a scriptwriter, director, producer, photographer and author also encompasses an abundance of innovative documentary films, international photo exhibitions and numerous monographs, film books and prose collections. He lives and works in Berlin.

The film won multiple awards accolades including the Best Documentary at the European Film Awards 2011 and the German Film Awards 2011. It was also nominated for the Best Documentary at the Academy Awards 2012.

After the first screening on May 26, from 8:00 pm IST, there will be a moderated conversation titled ‘PINA AFTER PINA - LEGACIES, TRANSLATIONS AND RELEVANCE’. The conversation will be between Aveek Sen and Preethi Athreya moderated by Vikram Iyengar

Those interested can join the live stream programme by logging on https://www.facebook.com/goetheinstitut.Kolkata/ to join the programme. The viewers could ask questions by writing in the ‘comment’ section while the live stream of the discussion is being broadcasted.

Vikram Iyengar is an arts leader and connector based in Calcutta, India, and working internationally. He is a dancer-choreographerdirector, curator-presenter, and arts researcher-writer. Co-founder and artistic director of Ranan Performance Collective, he also initiated and leads the Pickle Factory Dance Foundation – a hub for dance and movement practice and discourse. His scope of work spans practice, discourse, critique, ideation and management, and revolves around the central tenet of creating deep connections with and through the arts

Aveek Sen is a writer and educator, working across literature, cinema, music and the other arts. He studied English literature at Jadavpur University, Calcutta, and University College, Oxford, and taught at St Hilda’s College, Oxford. He was the recipient of the 2009 Infinity Award for writing on photography, given by the International Center of Photography, New York. He was associate editor (editorial pages) of The Telegraph, Calcutta, where he wrote a column called “Art & Life”. He has written extensively with artistes like Dayanita Singh, Roni Horn, Moyra Davey, Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster and On Kawara.

With a background in the classical Indian form of Bharatanatyam, Preethi Athreya has been working within the Indian contemporary dance scene as a performer, choreographer and facilitator. She has been engaged since early 2000 in creating a personal movement language that reflects her relationship with her context, being at the same time open to new ways in how we may relate to the body. With a strong commitment to constantly redefine the Indian body, Preethi lives and works in Chennai, India.