An emblem of modernity, Stravinsky’s masterpiece, with its extraordinary telluric power, has inspired generations of contemporary choreographers. This “great pagan sacred ritual,” in the composer’s own words, is a landmark in the work of Pina Bausch. For several months, at the École des Sables, south of Dakar, a team of artists from Tanztheater Wuppertal revived and shared the essence of the Rite choreographed by Bausch in 1975 with 32 performers from 14 African countries. On the soil-covered stage, male and female dancers clash and engage in a wild and poetic struggle that culminates in the sacrifice of the Chosen One. To open the evening, common ground[s] witnesses the meeting between Germaine Acogny, first lady of contemporary African dance and founder of the École des Sables, and Malou Airaudo, an icon of the first hour of Tanztheater Wuppertal. Two women’s destinies and two dance traditions intertwine in a sensitive and moving duet, reflecting their connection and rich respective histories.
Tickets start at $59.00
Photo © Wilfried Krüger
Choreographer
Pina Bausch was born in 1940 in Solingen and died in 2009 in Wuppertal. She received her dance training at the Folkwang School in Essen under Kurt Jooss, where she achieved technical excellence. Soon after the director of Wuppertal’s theatres, Arno Wüstenhöfer, engaged her as choreographer, from autumn 1973, she renamed the ensemble the Tanztheater Wuppertal. Under this name, although controversial at the b...
Read more about Pina Bausch
Photo © Association Jant-Bi
One of the best known personalities of the contemporary African dance scene, especially in the field of teaching and development. Between 1977 and 1982, Ms Acogny was artistic director of the emblematic MUDRA AFRIQUE School of the Performing Arts created by Maurice Bejart and the Senegalese president and poet Leopold Sedar Senghor in Dakar. Ever since, she dances, choreographs and teaches all over the world. Germaine Acogny...
Read more about Germaine Acogny
Choreographer and Dancer
Born in Marseille in 1948, Malou Airaudo began dancing at the age of eight, at the Opéra de Marseille. At 17, she joined the Ballet Russe de Monte-Carlo, where she became a soloist working with Léonide Massine, before joining Françoise Adret and her Ballet-Théâtre-Contemporain in 1968. Early1970s, she moved to New York to work with Paul Sanasardo and Manuel Alum, the latter choreographing the so...
Read more about Malou AiraudoThe Pina Bausch Foundation was established in 2009 shortly after the death of Pina Bausch by her son Salomon Bausch. The charitable foundation based in Wuppertal owns the rights to the works and choreographies of Pina Bausch along with the set and costume designs of Rolf Borzik and the extensive Pina Bausch archive. The foundation’s role is to carry Pina Bausch’s oeuvre forward i...
Read more about Pina Bausch Foundation + Ecole des Sables + Sadler’s WellsA Pina Bausch Foundation, École des Sables & Sadler’s Wells production.
Pina Bausch
The Rite of Spring
Germaine Acogny & Malou Airaudo
common ground[s]
A Pina Bausch Foundation, École des Sables & Sadler’s Wells production, co-produced with Théâtre de la Ville, Paris; Les Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg; Holland Festival, Amsterdam; Festspielhaus, St Pölten; Ludwigsburg Festival; Teatros del Canal de la Comunidad de Madrid, Adelaide Festival and Spoleto Festival dei 2Mondi.
The project is funded by the German Federal Cultural Foundation, the Ministry of Culture and Science of the German State of North Rhine-Westphalia, and the International Coproduction Fund of the Goethe-Institut, and kindly supported by the Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch.
The Rite of Spring
Choreography Pina Bausch.
Music Igor Stravinsky.
Set and Costumes Rolf Borzik.
Collaboration Hans Pop.
World Premiere December 3, 1975, Opera House Wuppertal.
2021 Restaging
Artistic Director Josephine Ann Endicott, Jorge Puerta Armenta, Clémentine Deluy.
Rehearsal Directors Ditta Miranda Jasjfi and Çağdaş Ermiş, Barbara Kaufmann, Julie Shanahan, Kenji Takagi.
Dancers Rodolphe Allui (Côte d'Ivoire), Sahadatou Ami Touré (Benin), Anique Ayiboe (Togo), Korotimi Barro (Burkina Faso), D’Aquin Evrard Élisée Bekoin (Côte d'Ivoire), Gloria Ugwarelojo Biachi (Nigeria), Khadija Cisse (Senegal), Sonia Zandile Constable (South Africa), Rokhaya Coulibaly (Senegal), Inas Dasylva (Senegal), Astou Diop TOUSA (Senegal), Serge Arthur Dodo (Côte d'Ivoire), Franne Christie Dossou (Benin), Estelle Foli (Togo), Aoufice Junior Gouri (Côte d'Ivoire), Lucény Kaabral (Cabo Verde), Zadi Landry Kipre (Côte d'Ivoire), Bazoumana Kouyaté (Mali), Profit Lucky (Nigeria), Vuyo Mahashe (South Africa), Baracar Mané (Senegal), Vasco Pedro Mirine (Mozambique), Stêphanie Mwamba (Democratic Republic of the Congo), Florent Nikiema (Burkina Faso), Shelly Ohene-Nyako (Ghana/Switzerland), Brian Otieno Oloo (Kenya), Harivola Rakotondrasoa (Madagascar), Oliva Randrianasolo NANIE (Madagascar), Asanda Ruda (South Africa), Amy Collé Seck (Senegal), Pacôme Landry Seka (Côte d’Ivoire), Gueassa Eva Sibi (Côte d’Ivoire), Carmelita Siwa (Benin), Amadou Lamine Sow (Senegal), Didja Kady Tiemanta (Mali), Aziz Zoundi (Burkina Faso).
With thanks to KorotimiBarro, Vuyo Mahashe, Tom Jules Sammie, Armel Gnago Sosso-Ny.
common ground[s]
Co-Choreographers and Dancers Germaine Acogny, Malou Airaudo.
Composer Fabrice Bouillon LaForest.
Costume Designer Petra Leidner.
Lighting Designer Zeynep Kepekli.
Dramaturg Sophiatou Kossoko.
Musicians
Bass Adam Davis, Carlota Margarida Ramos.
Cello Ana Catarina Pimentel Rodrigues, Mariana Silva Taipa.
Viola Wei-Chueh Chen, Alejandro Vega Sierra.
Violin Nicolas Lopez, Ana Maria Sandu, Alexandru-Adrian Semeniuc.
Keyboard Fabrice Bouillon LaForest.
Conductor Prof. Werner Dickel.
Sound Engineer Christophe Sapp.
Live Mix Tristan Assant, Fabrice Bouillon LaForest.
![Photo common-ground[s] © Maarten Vanden Abeele](https://www.dansedanse.ca/sites/default/files/common-grounds-credit-maarten-vanden-abeele-002.jpg "Photo common-ground[s] © Maarten Vanden Abeele. Danseuses Malou Airaudo, Germaine Acogny.")
![Photo common-ground[s] © Maarten Vanden Abeele](https://www.dansedanse.ca/sites/default/files/common-grounds-credit-maarten-vanden-abeele-003.jpg "Photo common-ground[s] © Maarten Vanden Abeele. Danseuses Malou Airaudo, Germaine Acogny.")
