Abstract
Focusing on spectator issues and performative processes in postmodern danceperformance, the thesis offers a new ecological approach for the analysis of dance
based on the premiss that the spectator’s interactive role as Mitreisender or ‘fellow traveller’ in Pina Bausch’s Tanztheater is integral to the creation of the live
experience and to a realisation of her work in performance. Centred on the multifaceted role of Mitreisender as intrinsic to Bausch’s collaborative approach, the limited scope of phenomenological discourse to spectator-centred accounts
highlights the need for a broader analytical approach to address the interactive
dialectic between spectator, performer and their sensory environment and their
physiological engagement in Bausch’s interrogative, exploratory processes. In the
light of new fields of performance research that explore the interactive, experiential nature of postmodern phenomena, the thesis draws on the hybrid theories of theatre ecology (Marranca, 1996; Fuchs, 1996), theatre archaeology (Pearson and Shanks, 2001) and theatre anthropology (Barba, 1995) to formulate a new integrated, theoretical framework with an ecological focus. Complementing the collaborative ethos of Bausch’s hybrid art form, cultural ecology integrates theory and practice and the perspectives of spectator, performer and director, examining their multi-faceted roles and interrelationships and the affective stimuli that fuel creative journeys of exploration and self-discovery, thus enhancing the Mitreisender’s appreciation and awareness through personal experience of Bausch’s choreographic phenomena.
The thesis traces the roots of Bausch’s Tanztheater, examining its orientation to the German Ausdruckstanz movement of the early 20th century and influences that shaped Bausch’s artistic development, particularly her formative career under the mentorship of Kurt Jooss and her experiences amongst New York’s avant-garde community in the early 1960s. Examining how Bausch draws on Bertolt Brecht’s epic theatre and Antonin Artaud’s vision of experiential performance and
reconfigures modernist concepts in a postmodern framework, the study demonstrates the ways in which Bausch’s potent cocktail of Verfremdung phenomena, sensory environment and architectural collage changes perceptions of performance and how it is experienced, thus transcending the theatrical aspirations of her predecessors. Comparisons drawn with contemporary Tanztheater forms show how Bausch’s aesthetic approach takes Tanztheater into uncharted territory, revealing generic links with physical theatre forms such as Japanese butoh that exploit the body’s expressive potential and its relationship to the environment.
Contributing to existing research, case studies of four works from 1998 to 2001
enhance current awareness of developments in Bausch’s aesthetic over the past
decade and highlight the interrelated nature of a repertoire that matures through an organic, regenerative cycle of reflection and renewal. Illuminating inherent, stylistic dance and theatrical characteristics and the organic nature of Bausch’s choreographic aesthetic, cultural ecology reveals the symbiotic relationship between performer, spectator, the work and its environment. This approach aims to provide fresh insights into Bausch’s distinctive performance practice and a comprehensive appreciation of her complex, multi-faceted art form.
| Date of Award | 2009 |
|---|---|
| Original language | English |
| Awarding Institution |
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| Supervisor | Joe Kelleher (Supervisor) |