Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch’s Viktor

Viktor, created by the inventive Pina Bausch, returns to Sadler’s Wells from Thursday 8 – Sunday 11 February. The piece, an international co-production with Teatro Argentino and the City of Rome, is performed by Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch, a Sadler’s Wells International Associate.

In 1986, the city of Rome invited Pina Bausch and her company to make a piece inspired by the Eternal City. Viktor turned out to be the first of Pina Bausch’s epic travelogues, a series which took her company around the world for inspiration-gathering residencies. Living in each city for a period of time, her renowned company would then return to Wuppertal to create a new work inspired by their visit. The piece has previously been performed at Sadler’s Wells in 1999 and again as part of the World Cities series in 2012.

Deep in the muddy depths of a grave which is still being dug, a corpse couple are united in a macabre marriage and a woman is transformed into a water fountain. Viktor is set to music which spans centuries and continents: folk music from Italy, waltzes from Russia and dance music from the Middle Ages to the 1930s. Pina Bausch directed and choreographed Viktor, with set designs by Peter Pabst, costume designs by Marion Cito and music in collaboration with Matthias Burkert.

Renowned as the inventor of tanztheater, and widely regarded as one of the most significant influences in contemporary dance, Pina Bausch has inspired generations of audiences and artists all over the world, nurturing an ensemble of vivid imagination and grand scale. Since her death in 2009, the company has continued to present her choreographic works around the world. Earlier this year, Adolphe Binder joined the company as Intendant and Artistic Director. In 2018, the company will create new pieces in Wuppertal with guest choreographers for the first time. Dimitris Papaioannou will create New Piece I with the company, and New Piece II will be choreographed by Alan Lucian Øyen.