Four major elements combine in Pina Bausch's Vollmond at Sadler's Wells to create an intriguing two-hour, two-act production of contemporary dance from Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch + Terrain Boris Charmatz. The set, movement, staging and music are interwoven to create entertaining, multi-themed scenarios.
Entertaining, energetic and stunningly executed
Peter Pabst’s now famous monolithic set for this work is visible on entering the auditorium. The giant boulder dominates throughout with a magnetic surrealism and animistic presence. From where I was seated it appeared as an abstract facial image, whose recesses and protrusions created a mouth, nose and horizontal seeing area, giving it a presence beyond just its size. The choreography embraces the feature as dancers leap and climb on and off it, move around it, shower it in buckets of water and swim from one side of the river to the other, passing behind it.
It’s an action-packed, highly physical work. Some scenes pass quickly while others are extended by Bausch's characteristic repetition of motifs. This style, with its absurdist connotations and featuring everyday objects, is made clear from the outset. The opening entrance of two men would be unremarkable were it not for the actions that follow. In both hands they each have empty plastic water bottles. In turn they swish them back and forth making a muted whooshing noise way beyond the moment at which the point is made. Some scenes appear as staccato anecdotes, others flow into longer expositions as the ensemble is introduced in solo and group sequences. Amusement becomes the norm through minimal use of words and comic interactions. A range of music from Tom Waits, Amon Tobin, Alexander Balanescu and Cat Power, supplements the action and enhances the various moods of love, conflict and competition.
As the piece progresses it becomes more elemental and we become increasingly reminded that the title refers to a high tide or full moon. Forces of nature are at work and the moment arrives when the rain begins to come down, sometimes as a fine gauze and frequently as fierce showers. The dance increasingly embraces this until it climaxes in aqautic frenzy.
Vollmond is packed with imagery yet often moves at a pace that leaves little time for reflection. Whatever interpretations one takes away or what sense one tries to make of it, the piece is entertaining, energetic and stunningly executed.
