"When I met this book by Pina Baush, it was a wonderful touch." The young dancer Xie Xin had seen Pina live in Europe very early, but the shock that Pina brought to her at that time was completely different from the feeling of watching Pina dance many years later, especially after many years of practical experience in the field of dance.
Pina Baush: The Creator of the Dance Theatre, written by British art historian and dance critic Lloyd Clemenka, is the first book in the English-speaking world to comprehensively study Pina's dance career and dance art.
A few days ago, Guangxi Normal University Press's "I Think Studio" held a new book sharing meeting at Duoyun Academy and Drama Shop, where Xie Xin, champion of "Dance Storm", Jiang Yuhui, professor of philosophy at East China Normal University, and Zhuang Jiaxun, translator and writer, gathered together to have a dialogue on this newly published biography.
In addition to this sharing session, Duoyun Academy Drama Shop also has a month-long "Pina Baush Theme Exhibition", which sets up interactive punch points to guide readers to better appreciate Pina's dance world between walking and watching.
An indispensable book for dance students and scholars
"I don't care how people move, I care about why people move." "I dance because I'm sad." "Please don't discuss the significance of my work, I didn't think about it." Pina said.
Combining elements of dance and theatre, the "First Lady of Modern German Dance" pioneered the performance form of the dance theatre. Her actors are either dejected or angry, her works have no fixed plot, no clichéd process, dancers eat, smoke, fall in love, play, hurt, any kind of action can become a dance, the stage is filled with huge installations and props, sprinkled with leaves, flowers, dirt, grass, high walls...
The combination of "poetic" and "everyday elements" in pina dance theater has had a subversive effect on the modern dance world, and too many people have followed her, but no one has ever surpassed her.
Writer Barney Norris argues that Pina's work undoubtedly constitutes a high watermark of creativity in the 20th century, but there is more important than that: she is the source of generations of artists in any conceivable medium.
"She taps into the joys and fears, frustrations and confusions of everyday life, searching for the truth hidden in these emotions." British art historian and dance critic Lloyd Clemenka said.
Under the pen of Lloyd Clemenka, Pina Bausch: The Creator of the Dance Theater became the first book in the English-speaking world to comprehensively study Pina's dance career and dance art. The author has studied Pina for many years, and through first-hand notes and interview materials, this biography has made an in-depth exploration of Pina's life, thoughts, representative works, creative methods, and teaching methods.
One of the highlights of this biography is that it combines the specific dance theater case "Communicative Field", which provides an anatomical analysis of the creation methods and practices of Pina Dance Theater; the second highlight is that a set of guides for the actual practice of dancers has been compiled with reference to Pina's choreography and teaching methods, which is of particular practical value for readers engaged in dance and drama.
"This book is indispensable for dance students and scholars." The art magazine Theater commented on this.
She gives people the courage to face setbacks and sufferings
After many years of practical experience in the field of dance, Xie Xin believes that dance must have a core thing, that is, to integrate a person's experience and feelings into the dance movements to enrich it, use the heart and thinking to support their own movements, and expand the time and space scope of dance.
As a female choreographer, Xie Xin believes that after experiencing the baptism of time and life experience, women's dance creation will become unusually moving and realistic, becoming deeper and more primitive, which is related to the environment of the times, but also related to the sensitivity and vitality of women themselves. Dance is always an open subject, and dancers continue to use their bodies to engage in dialogue with the environment that is happening in the new era.
"Dance is naturally about expressing the power of my own body." Jiang Yuhui, a professor of philosophy at East China Normal University, believes that watching Pina's dance will give people a courage to face all the setbacks and all the sufferings in life. Modern dance is not only to interpret a movement or technique, dancers need to express their perception of the world in the performance field, so that life and the times collide. This collision occurs not only in the hearts and movements of the dancers, but also in the hearts of the audience who watch the dancers perform.
Chuang Garson is a fan of Pina, with many years of experience in orchestras and chamber music performances, as well as theater projects and music festival planning and operation experience, she very much agrees with Pina's view that "dance is not about movement, but about life, everything starts from life".
In her opinion, the dance created by Pina is almost a simulation of life, which presents a way of existence and mental state like a life. Pina regards the body as an extension of the self, her dance values every growth and precipitation of individual life, and the audience can find themselves in Pina's works, and restore the truth of life in the thinking she has inspired and guided.
"Dance, jump, or we'll be lost." Zhuang Garson carefully carried this sentence in his pocket, this proverb like life, always fixed on the screen she turned on, "Life and death are in the whirling dance, don't let the heart die in the body." Pina made me a different person. ”