All about the iconic dance innovator Pina Bausch

January 2025, article

For all lovers of dance, there is a mythical ring to the name Pina Bausch. But who was she and what made her work so spectacular and innovative that companies are still performing it today? This article tells you more about the person who ranks among the greatest dance innovators of the twentieth century. 

Pina Bausch was the director of Tanztheater Wuppertal for over 35 years, during which period she created more than 40 productions. Many of those travelled the world and are still being performed today. In 2025 we are proud to present, exclusively in Amare, a new version of Bausch’s famous Kontakthof (1978), titled Kontakthof – Echoes of ’78. This new production merges the past and the present, film and live theatre.

Youth in Solingen

Philippine Bausch was born in 1940 in Solingen, in the German federal state of Nordrhein-Westfalen. With the dance theatre (Tanztheater) based in nearby Wuppertal, she will later come to fame under her nickname Pina. Her parents ran a hotel and restaurant, assisted by Pina and her siblings. There she learned to observe people and especially to read what drives them, deep inside. Her experiences in these early childhood years resonate in some of her later pieces: people coming and going and talking about their longing for happiness, while a melody sounds in the background. But they also reflect her early experiences of war, through sudden panic attacks or a sense of anxiety regarding an unknown danger.

Training and work

Pina first started training in dance at the age of 14 under Kurt Jooss at the Folkwang-Hochschule in Essen. Jooss was an important dance innovator, who liked to combine theatre and classic ballet, as his Der Grüne Tisch from 1932 demonstrates so well. The Folkwang-Hochschule also offered courses in opera, drama, music, sculpture and visual arts, photography and design. This combination of art disciplines left a lasting mark on Pina Bausch’s vision and work.

After graduating, Pina was awarded a grant with which to study at the famous Juilliard School in New York. New York at that time was a crucible of creative renewal, both in classic ballet and modern dance. Pina Bausch trained under Antony Tudor, José Limón, dancers of the Martha Graham Company, Alfredo Corvino and Margret Craske. She worked as a dancer with Paul Taylor, Paul Sanasardo, Donya Feuer and the Metropolitan Opera. She seized every opportunity to attend performances and to absorb artistic trends.

Tanztheater Wuppertal

In 1962, Pina returned to Essen at Kurt Jooss’s request, performing as a solo dancer with the Folkwang-Ballet. She also started creating her own work and in 1969 won first prize at a choreography competition in Cologne. She was appointed artistic leader of Wuppertaler Ballet in 1973, which she renamed as Tanztheater Wuppertal. She broke with traditional ballet, instead concentrating on unfettered expressive freedom. Her work revolved around the interaction between dance, movement, speech and design.

Worldwide acclaim

With works including Le Sacre du printemps (1975) and Blaubart (1977), she developed a personal, poignant style. The production Café Müller (1978) marked her international breakthrough. Although her works were initially met with some resistance among the public, her unique combination of drama, humour and poetry gradually gained worldwide acclaim.

Dance in films by Federico Fellini and Pedro Almodóvar

In later life, Pina Bausch also turned to making films. In 1982 she worked with Federico Fellini on the film E la nave va (And the Ship Goes), and from 1987 to 1990 she worked on her own film, Die Klage der Kaiserin (The Complaint of the Empress). In 2001 she acted in Pedro Almodóvar’s film Hable con ella (Talk to Her), which features excerpts from Café Müller and Masurca Fogo.

Wim Wenders’s documentary Pina

A famous documentary about Pina Bausch is Wim Wenders’s Pina (2011). The famous film maker (e.g. The American Friend (1977), Perfect Days (2023)) had been discussing a film with her company for some time when she suddenly died in 2009. In the documentary, the dancers of Tanztheater Wuppertal demonstrate her unique working method. Both on stage in Wuppertal and in the open air, the dancers express their emotions and their dance. The documentary is regularly offered by various streaming services and forms an important tribute to the legacy left behind by Bausch’s creative and original spirit.

Still performed around the world

Many of Pina Bausch’s works continue to be performed all around the world. The Rite of Spring, with 36 dancers from 14 African countries, was a huge success in Amare in 2023. Kontakthof (1978) also has an extensive and wide-ranging performance history. The original choreography continues to travel the world, there is a touching version performed by young people, and there are several versions with older dancers. Kontakthof – Echoes of ’78, staged exclusively in Amare in 2025, is a new piece that combines the past and the present, film and live theatre.

Pina Bausch and more dance in Amare

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