Dear Pina, 2009 - 2012
Dear Pina, was an evening-length dance/theatre tribute to Pina Bausch, world-renowned German choreographer who changed the shape of dance. Created for the vast and unforgettable Breeding Barn at Shelburne Farms, Vermont, and presented June 25-30, 2012, it was performed by an ensemble of 28 dancers and one tall, dignified couple. Produced by Cradle to Grave Arts, The Flynn Center, and Shelburne Farms.
Performance
On February 5th, once-a-week rehearsals began in Burlington. We worked in gyms in an effort to come close to the scale of the barn. Building a strong sense of ensemble was as crucial as learning the material, trust was of utmost importance.
In June, we stepped into the barn for our final four rehearsals; intense and exciting. A run of 6 performances commenced on June 25th, 2012.
FILM CREDITS
DIRECTOR Lukas Huffman
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY Daniel Cojanu
ADDITIONAL CINEMATOGRAPHY Seth Neary
CHOREOGRAPHERS Hannah Dennison, Amy LePage, Hanna Satterlee
COMPOSER David Severance
COSTUME DESIGN Leslie Anderson
LIGHTING DESIGN Stefan Jacobs
Film stills below by Daniel Cojanu
Ensemble
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Hannah Dennison
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Amy LePage
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Hanna Satterlee
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Autumn Barnett
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John Bennett
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Paul Besaw
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Heather Bryce Labor
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Erin Duffee
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Emer Feeney
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Candace Fugazy
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Jill George
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Sharyl Green & Peter Lackowski
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Paul Hilliard
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Erica Hunter
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Trena Isley
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Zoe Marr
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Tracy Martin
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Fabio Nascimento
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Kaitlyn O'Donnell
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Abby Pepin
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Joe Schine
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Daniel Senning
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Marly Spieser-Schnieder
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Annette Urbschat
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Avi Waring
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Kayla West
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Lida Winfield
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Willow Wonder
Ensemble portraits by Emily Boedecker
Beginnings
On June 30, 2009, German choreographer Pina Bausch died at the age of 69. News of her death spread rapidly all around the world and artists everywhere profoundly felt the loss.
Almost immediately, I began thinking about creating a performance homage. Initial movement ideas were made in my living room in 2009/2010, then with my two choreographic partners − Amy LePage and Hanna Satterlee − expanded on the ideas in the studio during the winter of 2010/2011. In June of 2011, we took those developing ideas to Shelburne Farm’s Breeding Barn − a vast, dirt-floor space – to prepare for the September audition. Later in the fall, we honed the material in preparation for rehearsals that started winter of 2012.
Photography below by Emily Boedecker
Audience Reactions
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I had no idea what to expect- and was completely blown away. As I’ve told friends today, I have never seen nor probably will ever see anything quite like that performance.
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I was absolutely stunned – the setting, the lighting, the costumes, the birds, the music, the dancers – unbelievably beautiful! Loved it – a visual elixir.
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I was immersed in another world of sounds, sights, emotions, touch, like walking into someone’s dream and dwelling in it for a long time.
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I once saw Pina in Berlin, and think that she was smiling in approval.
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The setting, passion, chaos, physicality, & struggles were so poignant, speaking to unknown places.
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It was surprising and beautiful and uncomfortable in all the right ways. I cried. I was frightened. I laughed and felt such joy.
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I felt softly and most deeply led on a profound journey to a place both beneath and beyond time or place; all of my senses were touched and awakened. Precious.
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I have no idea what I was “supposed” to feel – just know I was close to tears and laughter most of the time. The lighting and music melding with it all was breathtaking.
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One thing that stays with me over and over is the connection between the dancers and audience. That is what made the piece so powerful for me and why I wanted to see it over and over.
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There are images that will remain with me for a very long time.
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I’ve never experienced dance in so many layers of my being.
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You made something that has left lasting beautiful ripples.
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I witnessed the whole human condition, joy and aggravation, brutality and tenderness, up close – made more so because we were in the dirt with you.
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Some dance performances I leave inspired, but remote from the physical perfection. With Dear Pina, aspects of our humanity were made so accessible that I left feeling deeping connected and bigger in spirit.
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The layers of mysterious images were perfect odes to Pina. You allowed vignettes and relationships to appear and disappear in the texture of the piece without much ceremony or need to have all the ends tied together too neatly; I appreciated being given the freedom to interpret.
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It was like walking into someone’s dream and getting to dwell in it for a long time. Absolutely stunning, beautiful, amazing, wonderful, sensitive, and I was so impressed with the ensemble, their relating to one another, the sense of community I witnessed.
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I felt I had taken a journey with everyone in the room — dancers, musicians, birds, audience members, air, soil, sun. We breathed, sweated, imagined, felt, gasped, wondered. It was like a full-length opera or a seven-course meal or a requiem.
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The music was like a sound road that anchored me while watching.