THE HANGOVER REPORT – In Tanztheater Wuppertal’s ÁGUA, Pina Bausch’s evocation of humanity unfiltered goes on holiday

Tanztheater Wuppertal performs “Água” by Pina Bausch at the BAM Howard Gilman Opera House (photo by Julieta Cervantes).

It’s an exciting time in New York for fans of global contemporary dance. Over at The Joyce, you’ll find Israel’s Batsheva Dance Company in the midst of a two-week stint performing Ohad Naharin’s sensational 2009 work Hora. And then over at the BAM Howard Gilman Opera House, you’ll find Tanztheater Wuppertal performing the sprawling Água choreographed by the late Pina Baush. Interestingly, not only do these performances mark the first time these companies are dancing in New York since pre-pandemic times, they also mark the first time they are performing in the city without the iconic aforementioned dance-makers at their respective helms.

Put simply, Água — which was developed during a 2001 residency in Brazil and is just now enjoying its U.S. premiere — finds Tanztheater Wuppertal on holiday (just envision an absurdist take of the hit television series White Lotus, and you’ll get the picture), but in a strictly Bauschian sense. Indeed, the work is suffused with the choreographer’s trademark aesthetic, a distinctive and seductive blend of avant-garde theater and contemporary dance evoking humanity without a filter. At nearly three hours in length, the piece takes its time introducing the world’s idiosyncratic players and choreographic motifs, in the process creating a parade of casual but nonetheless striking tableaus. Danced against a dizzying backdrop of video projections depicting a fantasia of beach and tropical locales, the work explodes in a luscious landscape in which passions are free to run ecstatically rampant.

Throughout, the dancers dazzled with their fearless physical virtuosity and quirky humor. And although Tanztheater Wuppertal and its aesthetic will inevitably evolve without Bausch, I’m happy to have this opportunity to pause and bask in the transient glories of the cherished company as a devoted conduit for the choreographer’s singular vision. Altogether, Água marks a triumphant return to New York for the Germany-based dance company. And if the BAM audience’s enthusiastic ovations at the end of each performance are any indication, it’s been much missed.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

ÁGUA
Dance
Pina Bausch’s Tanztheater Wuppertal at the Brooklyn Academy of Music
2 hours, 50 minutes
Through March 19

Categories: Dance

Leave a Reply