Pina Bausch: influences, peers and legacy

Every connection with its receipt

Pina Bausch remade European dance by fusing German Ausdruckstanz lineage with theatrical montage, autobiography, and monumental stage design. This mix traces her path from Kurt Jooss's Folkwang school through New York's ballet-modern crossroads, into the Wuppertal decades and the choreographers and filmmakers who now carry her Tanztheater forward.

The Kynda mix for Pina Bausch

• Key Influence · The Green Table by Kurt Jooss (1932). Bausch entered Jooss's Folkwang School in Essen at fourteen, and his anti-war masterpiece defined the tradition she inherited: dance as social critique, gesture charged with political meaning, and the fusion of ballet technique with expressionist theater. Jooss later brought her back from New York as a soloist in his Folkwang Ballet, and his conviction that dance must speak about the human condition became the spine of her Tanztheater aesthetic.and method.and vision.
• Influencia Obscura · Laughter After All by Paul Sanasardo (1960). Before Wuppertal, Bausch danced in New York with the company of Paul Sanasardo and Donya Feuer, appearing in this dark, Genet-tinged work about cruelty and ritual humiliation. The Sanasardo-Feuer studio's raw psychological expressionism, far from the formalism dominating American modern dance, is an under-documented seed of her later theater of confrontation. Feuer went on to collaborate with Ingmar Bergman, extending this obscure lineage into film.
• Local Roots · Im Bade wannen by Susanne Linke (1980). Linke trained at the Folkwang school in Essen just after Bausch and directed the Folkwang Tanzstudio, the same Ruhr-region institution Bausch led before moving to Wuppertal a few kilometers away. This bathtub solo, a portrait of postwar German womanhood built from domestic gesture and repetition, shows the shared regional grammar of the Folkwang lineage: everyday objects, task-like actions, and autobiography turned into rigorous choreographic form.
• Beyond the Medium · The Seven Deadly Sins by Bertolt Weill and Bertolt Brecht (1933). In 1976 Bausch staged the Brecht/Weill sung ballet in Wuppertal, a turning point after which her work abandoned pure dance for montage, song, and spoken scenes. Brecht's epic theater gave her the tools of interruption, direct address, and social gestus, while Weill's Weimar cabaret idiom shaped the melancholy popular-song collages of her later scores. The production marks the moment Tanztheater declared its allegiance to theater as much as to dance.
• Peer · Artifact by William Forsythe (1984). Forsythe, an American who made his career at Stuttgart and then Frankfurt Ballet, was Bausch's great counterpart in German dance of the 1980s: where she deconstructed theater, he deconstructed classical ballet itself. Artifact, his first full evening in Frankfurt, uses slamming curtains, spoken text, and mass ensembles in ways that parallel her montage dramaturgy. The two defined Germany's state-funded stages as the world laboratory for postmodern dance.
• From the Canon · Café Müller by Pina Bausch (1978). The signature work: sleepwalking figures collide with chairs in a dim café while Purcell laments play, with Bausch herself performing the closed-eyed woman in a slip for decades. Drawing on childhood memories of her parents' restaurant in Solingen, it distills her themes of longing, repeated failed embraces, and tenderness turning mechanical. Its opening later framed Almodóvar's Talk to Her, making it the piece through which the wider world discovered her.
• Key Collaborator · Palermo Palermo by Pina Bausch and Peter Pabst (1989). After Rolf Borzik's death, set designer Peter Pabst became Bausch's essential scenic partner for three decades, and Palermo Palermo opens with his most famous coup: a cinder-block wall spanning the stage that crashes down before the piece begins, leaving dancers to pick through rubble. Pabst's monumental natural and ruined environments, earth, water, flowers, stone, gave the later city pieces their visual identity and defined the look of mature Tanztheater.
• Legacy · Since She by Dimitris Papaioannou (2018). The Greek director became the first outside choreographer invited to create a full evening for Tanztheater Wuppertal after Bausch's death, and Since She is explicitly a dialogue with her ghost: stacked chairs recalling Café Müller, processions, and her own dancers as material. Papaioannou has described Bausch as a formative influence on his imagistic theater, and the commission made him the most visible torchbearer of her company's continuing life.

What influenced Pina Bausch

• Kurt Jooss. Establishes Jooss's mentorship and influence on Bausch's expressionist dance style. “Having Jooss as a teacher and mentor, Bausch's pieces were largely influenced by the German expressionist dance tradition of Ausdruckstanz.” (Wikipedia)
• Anna Sokolow. States Bausch drew influence from Anna Sokolow during her New York studies. “When studying in New York, Bausch sought influence from Martha Graham , José Limón , and Anna Sokolow .” (Wikipedia)
• Jardin aux Lilas by Antony Tudor (1936). Jardin aux Lilas (Antony Tudor) — titan for Pina Bausch “After graduation in 1959, Bausch left Germany with a scholarship from the German Academic Exchange Service to continue her studies at the Juilliard School in New York City in 1960, where her teachers included Antony Tudor, José Limón, Al…” (en.wikipedia.org)
• The Green Table by Kurt Jooss (1932). The Green Table (Kurt Jooss) — titan for Pina Bausch “In 1955, Bausch was accepted into Kurt Jooss's Folkwangschule in Essen.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Rudolf Laban. Traces the dance-theatre concept Bausch worked within to Laban's theories. “The term "dance theatre" ( tanztheater ) can be traced back to Rudolf Laban 's theories.” (Wikipedia)
• Martha Graham (1894). States Bausch drew influence from Martha Graham during her New York studies. “When studying in New York, Bausch sought influence from Martha Graham , José Limón , and Anna Sokolow .” (Wikipedia)
• José Limón. States Bausch drew influence from José Limón during her New York studies. “When studying in New York, Bausch sought influence from Martha Graham , José Limón , and Anna Sokolow .” (Wikipedia)
• E la nave va by Federico Fellini (1983). E la nave va (Federico Fellini) — culture for Pina Bausch “In 1983, she played the role of La Principessa Lherimia in Federico Fellini's film And the Ship Sails On.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Laughter After All by Paul Sanasardo (1960). Laughter After All (Paul Sanasardo) — ghost for Pina Bausch “In New York Bausch also performed with the Paul Sanasardo and Donya Feuer Dance Company and collaborated on two pieces with them in 1961.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Hexentanz by Mary Wigman (1926). Hexentanz (Mary Wigman) — ghost for Pina Bausch “It was his students such as Kurt Jooss and Mary Wigman who further developed their own theories regarding tanztheater.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• The Seven Deadly Sins by Bertolt Weill and Bertolt Brecht (1933). The Seven Deadly Sins (Bertolt Weill and Bertolt Brecht) — culture for Pina Bausch

Peers and kindred spirits

• Wim Wenders. Documents Bausch's direct collaboration with Wim Wenders on the film Pina. (also via Pina) “In 2009, Bausch collaborated with film director Wim Wenders on a 3D documentary, Pina , but died suddenly two days before the shoot was due to start in June 2009.” (Wikipedia)
• And the Ship Sails On by Federico Fellini. Bausch appeared as an actress in Fellini's film, a direct collaboration/cross-medium connection. “In 1983, she played the role of La Principessa Lherimia in Federico Fellini 's film And the Ship Sails On .” (Wikipedia)
• Next Wave Festival by Brooklyn Academy of Music. Bausch cited as international star presented at Next Wave Festival. “such truly international stars as West German choreographer Pina Bausch and Japanese dancers Iko and Koma” (Luxembourg (public broadcasting))
• Ulrike Meinhof by Johann Kresnik (1990). Ulrike Meinhof (Johann Kresnik) — peer for Pina Bausch “He began making work around the same time as Pina Bausch but decided he preferred the term 'choreographic theater' in place of 'dance theater' when referring to his own dance-theater hybrid.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Im Bade wannen by Susanne Linke (1980). Im Bade wannen (Susanne Linke) — geography for Pina Bausch “Susanne Linke (born 19 June 1944) is an internationally renowned German dancer and choreographer who is one of the major innovators of German Tanztheater, along with Pina Bausch and Reinhild Hoffmann.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Pina by Wim Wenders (2011). Pina (Wim Wenders) — collaborator for Pina Bausch “In 2009, Bausch collaborated with film director Wim Wenders on a 3D documentary, Pina, but died suddenly two days before the shoot was due to start in June 2009.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Solo mit Sofa by Reinhild Hoffmann (1977). Solo mit Sofa (Reinhild Hoffmann) — geography for Pina Bausch “Reinhild Hoffmann (born 1 November 1943 in Sorau) is a German choreographer and dancer who is an important innovator in Tanztheater, along with Pina Bausch and Susanne Linke.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Artifact by William Forsythe (1984). Artifact (William Forsythe) — peer for Pina Bausch
• Live Art in Microgravity. Le Sacre du printemps (Pina Bausch) — geography for Live Art in Microgravity (via Le Sacre du printemps)

Who Pina Bausch influenced

• Talk to Her by Pedro Almodóvar (2002). Talk to Her (Pedro Almodóvar) — legacy for Pina Bausch “Male-female interaction is a theme found throughout her work, which has been an inspiration for—and reached a wider audience through—the movie Talk to Her , directed by Pedro Almodóvar .” (Wikipedia)
• David Bowie (1947). States Bowie designed his Glass Spider Tour with Bausch's style in mind. “For the tour, Bowie "wanted to bridge together some kind of symbolist theatre and modern dance" and used Bausch's early work as a guideline.” (Wikipedia)
• Dimitris Papaioannou (1964). Papaioannou's piece Nowhere dedicated its central scene to Bausch's memory. (also via Since She) “The same year, choreographer and experimental theatre-maker Dimitris Papaioannou created a piece called Nowhere to inaugurate the renovated main stage of the Greek National Theatre in Athens. The show's central and most prolific scene wa…” (Wikipedia)
• Florence Welch (1986). Florence Welch names Pina Bausch as one of the biggest influences on her performance style. “"Pina has been one of the biggest influences on my life, especially on my performance style... Her work speaks to me in a way that is really hard to put into words, and I think that is the point of dance."” (Wikipedia)
• Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui (1976). Cherkaoui's work Play was dedicated to Bausch's memory, reflecting her influence. “In 2010 the choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and dancer Shantala Shivalingappa premiered their work Play , which was dedicated to Bausch's memory.” (Wikipedia)
• Alain Platel (1959). Bausch was a mentor to Alain Platel, whose work Out of Context was dedicated to her. “The show was directed and conceived by the company's founder Alain Platel , for whom Bausch was a friend and mentor.” (Wikipedia)
• American Horror Story: Coven. An AHS: Coven episode's imagery was likely influenced by Bausch's dance work Blaubart. (via Blaubart) “Promotional trailers for the third season of American Horror Story: Coven included a clip for the episode "Detention" and were likely influenced by Bausch's work Blaubart .” (Wikipedia)
• Since She by Dimitris Papaioannou (2018). Since She (Dimitris Papaioannou) — legacy for Pina Bausch “The same year, choreographer and experimental theatre-maker Dimitris Papaioannou created a piece called Nowhere to inaugurate the renovated main stage of the Greek National Theatre in Athens.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Chantal Akerman (1950). Akerman made a documentary about choreographer Pina Bausch, indicating cross-medium engagement.