There is someone we have not had the pleasure of seeing here in NEO, but her work has been seen on film here, and with the spring upon us, I happened on these excerpts...
The Rite of Spring [1] - Pina Bausch (apologies in advance for the youtube poor quality sit back and watch in full screen)
Also be sure to watch this (the dailymotion video quality is poor - so sit back and view them in full screen) The Man I Love [2]
Then there is this which you may have seen in film here in NEO - Cafe Mueller [3]
the lyric is from Henry Purcell's Dido and Aeneas:
Thy hand, Belinda, darkness shades me, On thy bosom let me rest, More I would, but Death invades me; Death is now a welcome guest.When I am laid in earth, May my wrongs create No trouble in thy breast; Remember me, but ah! forget my fate.It amazes me how much this choreographer reminds us of American dance pioneer Doris Humphrey. The architecture and the passion of the work is so clear.
[4]Of course, at the time, there were four pioneers: Humphrey and her partner Charles Weidman, Martha Graham and Hanya Holm - the four worked together at Bennington College.
[4]Holm [5] was a German and had brought the style and teaching of Mary Wigman [6] to the US.
With Pina Bausch we have enjoyed the renaissance of German dance. Considering how rooted in the German aesthetic American modern dance is, it seems curious that we have yet to see Pina Bausch in Cleveland. The company is in demand, however, and rarely travels to the US. I'd pay a considerable sum to see them here someday. These are the living roots of our modern dance - ressurected in Germany.
(Clicking on both images will take you to a dance heritage site where you can learn more about our American dance heritage.)