Bay Area Premiere

In this double-bill production, Pina Bausch’s iconic The Rite of Spring, a “ferocious roar of a piece” (The Guardian), is performed by an ensemble of more than 30 dancers from 14 African countries and assembled through a collaboration with the Pina Bausch Foundation, École des Sables, and Sadler’s Wells. Stravinsky’s searing, ominous score takes on new meaning through visceral choreography as a “chosen one” is sacrificed.

The occasion is momentous—it is only in recent years that Bausch’s pioneering work has been taught to new dancers outside of her company—and a thrilling opportunity to see her vision created anew on the Zellerbach Hall stage.

The companion piece common ground[s] is a new duet co-created and danced by two septuagenarians—Germaine Acogny, known as the “mother of African contemporary dance,” and Malou Airaudo, a longtime dancer with the Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch.

Join us for a post-performance moderated discussion on Fri, Feb 16. 

This event is part of Cal Performances’ Illuminations: “Individual & Community” programming for the 2023–24 season.

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 Co-production Fund of the Goethe-Institut, and kindly supported by the Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch. 

This performance is made possible, in part, by Helen Berggruen for Five Arts Foundation (February 16), and Rockridge Market Hall (February 17).