In the wake of The Rite of Spring (1997) and Orpheus and Eurydice (2005), Kontakthof is Pina Bausch’s third piece to enter the repertoire of the Paris Opera Ballet.
In it we find all the elements that characterise this German choreographer: love, angst, violence, desire, sadness and also considerable humour. In a set by Rolf Borzik – a large ballroom with grey walls – men in dark suits and women in satin dresses and stilettos meet, cross paths, confront and size each other up.
The dance is interrupted by micro‑sequences: pauses over memories, snatches of life…
This major work in Pina Bausch’s danced theatre, created in Wuppertal in 1978 for twenty or so dancers, requires a strength of expressiveness that reveals the personalities of each performer.
Performances run 2-31 December.