Last year there was a huge Pina Bausch-fest (<http://www.pina-bausch.de>) split between the Barbican and Sadlers Wells (<http://www.sadlerswells.com>) when I managed to see three very different works (a fourth was on the schedule but I did not make it in the end).
It has to be said, it is very difficult to go to something created by Pina Bausch if you haven't been before....and many people won't go again. Indeed I took a friend last year and he left at the interval. Last night four people behind me did not come back after the interval (and overhearing their conversation, they clearly had no idea what they were coming to see!) and (rudely) during the second half I noticed at least four people leaving.
All the trademarks were there - monotony, alienation, nudity, smoking, water, strangeness of all sorts! You either have to like it or just stay away.
I did miss the massed rhythmic section that has appeared in other works to great effect, there was one towards the end of the second half where couples 'danced' around the stage sitting on the floor. Must have been very uncomfortable for the dancers. The final danced piece to the song - Two Cigarettes in the Dark - also added some of the repetition and group dancing lacking in the first half. I am sure that the spreading of hay and the dumping of coal left most people wondering what was going on! Me too, nevertheless, I enjoyed it!
Looking forward to the next one (coming up very soon!).
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