Pina Bausch Rethinks the Legend of Orpheus (DanceTabs)

Read it here, in DanceTabs.

An Excerpt:

“I had to re-read the libretto when I got home in order to make sense of what I had just seen. Bausch eliminates context, and subdivides the scenes into abstract thematic chunks: “mourning,” “violence,” “peace,” and “death.” The themes are relatively clear, but the underlying narrative and internal monologues of the characters are not….Without an understanding of the specifics of the text, one aria tends blends into the next….Many details were lost; it was not  clear at what point Orpheus entered the underworld, or how, exactly, he managed to wangle his way to Eurydice’s resting place in the first place. Other mysteries: why, in the Underworld, is there a woman clutching a giant loaf of bread and another who reaches, endlessly, for an apple on a string?”