Club Amour

Adelaide Festival

Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Baush

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This event is a triptych combining  Pina Baush’s masterpiece “Café Müller” with two of Boris Charmatz’s  (director of Tanztheater Wuppertal until mid-year) own works  “Aatt enen tionon” (2006), and “herses, duo” (1997).

It also is the first time that “Café Müller” has been performed in this country, although her works have featured in previous Festivals.

Although Charmatz sees a connection between the three works, they are very different in presentation. On this occasion, the opener, “Café Müller” almost represented an avant garde approach to the question of relationships within the café setting. In contrast, “Aatt enen tionon”, with the three dancers preforming naked from the waist down and each occupying one level of a three-level platform, almost presented as physical theatre with its very energetic dance. Finally, “herses, duo” was very sensual, with the two completely naked dancers very much in contact with each other.

The main event was clearly “Café Müller”, set on the main stage littered with chairs. Closed eyes female dancers careered around the stage, chairs being flung out of their way, all set to the music of Henry Purcell, with a clear theme of the complications of relationships. As noted above, the second work, “Aatt enen tionon” was performed semi-naked. This was also, like the last dance, performed behind the main stage with the audience sitting or standing around the dancers. Noting the more intimate nature of these dances, this  greatly enhanced the experience. However, there is a question as to why this was not a fully clothed performance. There appeared no real reason for the nudity from my lay viewpoint.

That comment does not apply to the final segment, “herses, duo”. This very close dance with intertwining bodies was enthralling.

One of the great positives about the Adelaide Festival is that we get to see and appreciate wonderful art, such as this.