Educational Media Reviews Online

This disc is a reissue of a 1983 film by acclaimed director Chantal Akerman, whose film crew followed German choreographer Pina Bausch and her company for five weeks. The film primarily has voiceover narration in French with English subtitles, but there are a handful of interviews with dancers, all of whom mention that Pina would ask them pointed questions: what they think of when they hear the word love, what they learned after a certain exercise. There are long clips of unnarrated rehearsal and performance footage with just the accompanying music playing, which gives the viewer a sense of actually being there. There is a distinct hollowness, sometimes a darkness, to many of the sets featured in the documentary: blank, expressionless faces, mechanical and repetitive movements. And yet we also see the other end of the spectrum, with dancers who exclaim anti-war sentiments and extrovertly exhibit cultural stereotypes. Extended clips are shown of Komm Tanz mit mir (1977), Nelken (1982), and 1980 (1980). Pina is interviewed in English in the last few minutes of the film. Asked by Akerman what she sees of her future, Pina answers “strength and love.” Finally, someone asks a question of Pina—instead of the other way around. This film is recommended to collections supporting curricula in dance, theater, and women’s studies.