Forever Pina – Photos, film mark choreographer’s death

By He Jianwei

A master artist never truly dies because he is survived by his work.

On June 30, 2009, German dancer and choreographer Pina Bausch died at 68 – five days after she was diagnosed with cancer. Bausch was a giant of European contemporary dance during the last 35 years, shaping by her steps the dance and theater scenes.

Last Saturday, an exhibition and screening of Bausch’s work was held at the Iberia Center for Contemporary Art in 798 Art District to mark the anniversary of the master’s death.

Hiding her high and prominent cheekbone behind a cigarette-bearing hand, Pina Bausch looks serene in black and white.

Leaning on a wall beside the portrait, the photographer Gert Weigelt recalls his days with the artist, at times sighing over her sudden death.

Weigelt first heard of Bausch during his days as a ballet dancer in Stockholm, from 1967 to 1972. He met her for the first time during his last year, when Bausch visited Scalateatern in Stockholm with dance partner and choreographer Jean Cebron.

Having left the world of dance, Weigelt went to study art and photography in Cologne, Germany, not far from Bausch’s Tanztheater Wuppertal, a troupe that revolutionized dance in 1973.

In Bausch’s world, everything is dance.

Drawing on collage or montage, she combined fragments of movement, speech, song and music in a kaleidoscope of images. Her dance resounded in a voice of violence, humor and anxiety.

The year 1975 was important both for Bausch and Weigelt.