Three Times Six
Two glass doors revolve in a circular enclosure. A woman is flushed on to the dark stage by the revolving door and darts between the empty chairs, then disappears stage right. This is the beginning of Café Müller, a piece by Pina Bausch. If it were up to Boris Charmatz, who became the director of the Tanztheater Wuppertal last August, this piece would never end. Repertoire begins with the syllable ‘re-’. It stands for repetition and return, and in this case also for Henry Purcell’s aria “Remember Me”. And for ‘revolving door’ – a door that circles around in endless movement and yet always remains open.
Who will take the role that Pina Bausch used to dance? Who will dance Dominique Mercy’s role? These feel like urgent questions, but the answers inevitably lead to sadness. Pina Bausch is no longer alive; Dominique Mercy is irreplaceable in his uniqueness. In order to avoid the impulse to compare, Boris Charmatz and his team Barbara Kaufmann, Héléna Pikon, Robert Sturm and Magali Caillet-Gajan have prepared three new casts for the restaging of the piece. None of the dancers have performed the piece before. This is a first in the history of the piece and in the history of the company.
We are looking for you - Wundertal / Sonnborner Straße May 08 - 21, 2023
You like to dance and move? Then dance with us!
We are looking for 200 dance enthusiasts from Wuppertal from the age of 16 - regardless of fitness and movement level - for our extraordinary performance Wundertal / Sonnborner Straße. Dance experience is not a prerequisite for your participation, but you must be able to attend all rehearsal dates and the performance.
The exhibition is extended through February 19, 2023, and an additional performance with Julie Anne Stanzak will take place on February 5.
The exhibition Senga Nengudi at the Von der Heydt-Museum in collaboration with the Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch opens on August 21. The American artist Senga Nengudi (born in Chicago in 1943) studied both dance and sculpture in Los Angeles in the early 1960s and continues to combine movement and sculpture in her works today, often in surprising ways.
On 21.8., 25.9., 23.10., 27.11., 18.12. and 15.01. at 3pm, Senga Nengudi invites dancers from the ensemble and the musician Justyna Niżnik to engage in an intensive, free-flowing improvisatory process to explore the strange and unusual materials she uses for her sculptures.
Further information here
The Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch’s 2023 photo calendar is now out! It features photographs by the Berlin-based photographer Oliver Look and, for the first time, a fold-out calendar section.
Format 50 x 39 cm, silk-matt finish, 25 euros, available from the Tanztheater Wuppertal’s merchandise stall at the Wuppertal Opera House. On performance nights it opens one hour before the performance. The calendar is also available at Kulturkarte in Wuppertal: Kirchplatz 1, 42103 Wuppertal
13 full-colour photographs by Oliver Look of pieces by Pina Bausch:
• He Takes Her By The Hand And Leads Her Into The Castle, The Others Follow
• Arias
• Palermo Palermo
• „…como el musguito en la piedra, ay si, si, si…“
• Bluebeard. While Listening to a Tape Recording of Béla Bartók´s opera “Duke Bluebeard´s Castle”
• Kontakthof
• Orpheus und Eurydike
• Carnations
• ‘Sweet Mambo’
• The Piece with the Ship
• Palermo Palermo
The Board of Directors of the Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch announced its unanimous decision on 5 September 2022 to recommend Daniel Siekhaus as the new managing director of the Tanztheater Wuppertal. Subject to his formal appointment by the the Finance Committee of the City of Wuppertal on 13 September 2022, Siekhaus will take up his new position on 1 August 2023, at the start of the 2023/2024 season.
Roger Christmann, who has jointly led the Tanztheater with Bettina Wagner-Bergelt since 2019 and agreed to continue in his post and work with Boris Charmatz and the ensemble throughout the 2022/2023 season, will also continue to act as a senior advisor to the Tanztheater and the Pina Bausch Centre in the future.
The official podcast of the Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch.
Season 1
Why do we dance?
In this first season, Marc Wagenbach spoke with dancers, staff, and guest artists of the Tanztheater about Pina Bausch, dance as an art and form of expression, backstage secrets, the role of art in social and political debates, personal stories, the past, the present, and the future.
Süß und Sauer mit Bettina Wagner-Bergelt
Sweet and Sour - with Bettina Wagner-Bergelt
Gestrandet an der Wupper - mit Barbara Kaufmann
Stranded on the Shores of the Wupper - with Julie Anne Stanzak
Stranded on the Shores of the Wupper Part II - with Saar Magal
Warten auf den Weihnachtsmann - Weihnachtsspecial mit Roger Christmann
Waiting for Santa - Christmas Special with Oleg Stepanov
Me, Myself and I - with Julie Shanahan
Approaching Anna - with Stephanie Troyak
Being on a journay - with Dean Biosca
In the moment - with Christopher Tandy
How to shine? From gardening, dancing and healing bodies - with Bernd Uwe Marszan
Wand an Wand - mit Çağdaş Ermis
to the episodes on Spotify
to the episodes on Apple Podcasts





»The questions never stop, and the search never ceases. There’s something infinite in it, and that’s what’s so wonderful about it.«
Pina Bausch