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 danced 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.

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. 

Patron Sponsor: Helen Berggruen for Five Arts Foundation (2/16); Rockridge Market Hall (2/17)