Originally premiered in 1978, Kontakthof is a seminal piece in Pina Bausch’s repertoire, created at a time when her work was beginning to receive international recognition.
It is said that Pina often mused on the idea of seeing her original cast dance the piece when older. Now, almost five decades later, a new encounter with Kontakthof is being created by choreographer Meryl Tankard, who was one of the main characters in 1978.
Review by Stephen Gilchrist
In case you are interested, the word ‘Kontakthof’ translates to “meeting place,” “contact zone,” or by extension, a “courtyard” or a “brothel”. The brilliant reimagining of Pina Bausch’s iconic work, by Australian choreographer Meryl Tankard brings new meaning and new depths to the original metaphorical concept of a German dance hall to explore sexual politics, the pressures on sexual balance, sexual need, and domination, the objectification of women, and within the sometimes uncomfortable and embarrassing routines of courtship.
To misquote ‘Cliff’ final narration from Joe Masteroff’s libretto for the musical ‘Cabaret’
“There was a cabaret and there was a city called Berlin in a country called Germany—and it was the end of the world and I was dancing and was fast asleep…”
The 1978 original of this seminal dance-theatre piece cast a company of twenty young performers. In this update, and forty-five years on a company of eight dancers, all part of the original cast, put their best feet forward, emulating and shadowing with synchronicity, in some expertly edited footage, their younger selves in the 1978 showing. Before the interval, the footage is projected on a barely perceptible front-of-stage gauze, and afterwards on a screen at the rear of the bland but somehow cold and sinister dancehall box set (originally design by the late Rolf Borzik).
At the rear of the stage are some twenty chairs, in the younger version on film, all filled, now mostly empty. The loneliness of the human condition is exacerbated by the absence of most of the original characters, many now, 47 years later, dead and the pathos of age.
The company move to a soundtrack of sentimental, yearning German songs of the 1930s, tangos, and then tinged with music from later decades including the popular 1949 ‘The Third Man’ theme by Karras and even some 50s rock ‘n roll.
The cast introduce themselves amusingly at the Act 1 curtain. All multinational members are now in their seventies, and one is eighty years old. The women remain elegant, their elderly well-dressed roués still handsome. As they perform their mating rituals, slowly often, in repetitive patterns, sexual humiliation and aggression emerges, and particularly in the projected footage, is shocking. At the culmination, whilst the projection shows all the young male members of the original abusing a single woman, her old self stands alone on stage. Does she long for the aggressive sexual attention of years earlier, is she grateful now to be alone, or is she now just old and lonely?
I cannot tell you how impressed I was with a dance-theatre piece which was a work of art, visceral, raw, moving, and connects with ones very soul. The dazzling intensity of the concept is both mesmerising and leaves the audience open mouthed. This is a true multimedia event in which movement, theatre and production combine to produce something really special. I was privileged to be able to see it.
Further Information:
Kontakthof – Echoes of ’78 announces a major production that reunites nine dancers from the original 1978 cast of Pina Bausch’s seminal work. Directed by Meryl Tankard, a lead performer in the 1978 premiere, the production creates a poignant dialogue between the past and present.
Key Production Details
- Production Title: Kontakthof – Echoes of ’78
- Creative Team: Conceived and directed by Meryl Tankard, with archival footage by Rolf Borzik.
- The Concept: Nine original company members return to their roles, performing alongside projections of their younger selves from the 1978 archive.
- Themes: The work explores creative ageing, the visceral memory of the body, and the “palpable absence” of company members who are no longer alive.
- Sadler’s Wells Season: Performed as part of the Elixir Festival 2026, which celebrates longevity and rethinking perceptions of age in dance.
Performance Schedule at Sadler’s Wells
- Dates: 8 – 11 April 2026
- Location: Sadler’s Wells Theatre (Angel), London
- Festival: Part of the three-week Elixir Festival 2026 (7 – 27 April).
Background and Development
The project fulfills a long-held wish of Pina Bausch, who often mused about seeing her cast dance the same work at a much older age. This version is a co-production between Sadler’s Wells, the Pina Bausch Foundation, and Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch. It premiered in Wuppertal in November 2024 and was selected as one of the ten most remarkable productions for the prestigious Berliner Theatertreffen in 2025.