Pina!

On that same magical note, last Sunday I made the trek up to the city with my mom to see Pina.

I first heard about Pina Bausch while I was studying dance in Milan last year. I kept hearing the term Tanztheater, tanztheater, but didn’t really know what it was all about. I’m not sure why I bought the tickets for the show, maybe we had seen something I liked in dance history, maybe I just trust the Strehler theater (one of my favorite theaters anywhere). Or maybe I just kept hearing so much hype that I had to see her. In the days before the show, her company’s first appearance in Milan for many years, and the first after her death, which of course left her company in a precarious position, Milan went Pina crazy (or at least, my small world within the greater world of Milan did). I saw bits and pieces of many of her works and documentaries about her at the Cinema Gnomo (great independent movie theater, via lanzone, 30, behind the church of sant’ambrogio) and by the time the show arrived, I was psyched. Then of course, we were late.

Somehow, I had convinced myself, throughout all of my incredibly thorough preparations, that the show started at 16:30. I had bought the tickets months in advance, and I made sure that we left the house in ample time to get to the theater. We got there at about 4:05, and seeing that there was little crowd, decided to smoke a cigarette before going in. Sometime later, as we realized that no one was showing up, I actually checked the time and realized, that instead of being 15 minutes early, we were 15 minutes late! We rushed in and luckily they let us into the theater, but we had to sit on the floor until the intermission. I spent the first half hour kicking myself, but eventually I was so mesmerized by what was going on onstage, that I forgot to be mad at myself. The show was Vollmond (or Full Moon), and, like many of Pina’s works, it talked about people and relationships, loneliness and dependency. I think one of the things that astonishes me the most about her work is the way that using a medium like postmodern dance that is usually so abstract, often frustratingly so for me, she manages to create, not so much stories but experiences that are so vivid and universal that they seem to connect on a personal level with anyone who watches.

I thought about this as I watched Pina, the movie, in a different theater, in a different country, and in a different state of mind, but equally entranced. I first heard about the movie around the time I saw the show (convinced, among other things, that to dance for Pina Bausch was one of, if not the highest aspiration one or I could have). I had no idea who Wim Wenders was (it took me many months to figure out that he was the guy behind Buena Vista Social Club), but everyone spoke of him as if he were a rare case of someone worthy of this honor, and capable of carrying it out. I waited with eager anticipation for some sign that the movie was making progress to a theater near me, even as I changed countries myself and went through great personal transformation. Sometime this fall, I read that it would be opening in the u.s. on December 23rd. I was thrilled! Unfortunately, this was not the case and I had to suffer through hearing about it from all of my Italian friends, and then discovering that it would be released in San Francisco at just the moment when I would be on the other side of the world. But finally, 3 days after my return, I was sitting in the theater with months of anticipation behind me, as well as several different Emilys in various states of life, all waiting for the moment when the music would start.

And thankfully, it did not disappoint. However, I have to say, that in my opinion, the strength of the film lies not so much in any special about the film itself, but in the way that it showcases everything beautiful about the choreography and the characters it presents, while the film itself remains in the wings, an invisible presence. But perhaps it’s better that way.

Another thought I had while I was watching was that I think I could watch one of these choreographies once a day for the rest of my life, and not only would I never get bored, but I think I would learn a lot. Watching this incredible movement, this incredible way of showcasing ideas, makes me desire to create, and makes me open my mind to new ways of looking at things, new places to push. Not to mention the incredible observation, but also patience and amusement, at the ways humans treat themselves and each other. Watching these dancers at times feels to me like watching humanity through the eyes of a buddha, or a god. And afterward, I feel that I too should be infinitely patient and loving.

So hats off to Pina’s memory. And to anybody who hasn’t seen the movie yet, and hasn’t been convinced by my arguments, at least watch this, which surely can say more in its 1 minute and 46 seconds than I can in these 894 words.