Tickets to Pina Bausch's KONTAKTHOF at Luminato Festival On Sale 1/27

Luminato Festival is proud to present Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch Dance Company in Toronto for the first time in 30 years!

"Pina Bausch's work carries the signature of a genius. She founded modern dance theatre and invented a completely new language of movement, dance and theatre. Kontakthof is one of her earliest pieces and probably the one where the lifelong theme of the complexity of the male-female relationship is the most clearly developed. A "Kontakthof" is a place where males meet females, a dance hall potentially, and in Pina Bausch's world they continuously attempt to connect but gestures turn against each other, and touches turn into torture. This does not lead to destruction, but to more and newer and more imaginative attempts. Like Sisyphus moving the rock up the mountain continuously, Bausch's males and females continuously collide, drift apart and collide again. When I first saw a work by Pina Bausch, I could not imagine life without it anymore. At Luminato we fail our mission if we do not manage to bring a work by such an artist to Toronto and this is maybe the last chance." - Jorn Weisbrodt, Artistic Director, Luminato Festival

Any discussion of the 20th century's most influential choreographers must place Germany's Pina Bausch in the illustrious ranks of George Balanchine, Katherine Dunham, Martha Graham and Jerome Robbins. In her lifetime, Bausch forever altered perceptions of contemporary choreography with her landmark fusing of theatrical and dance elements to create Tanztheater. Her frequently controversial, invariably poetic, blending of dancers with everyday elements focused particularly on the diurnal "dance" that is male-female relations.

Kontakthof (translation: "courtyard of contact") is Bausch's crowning achievement. First staged in 1978, it has since earned global praise as a masterful examination of the eternal battle of the sexes; wherein whatever balance and harmony is achieved is ultimately scuttled because male and female forces are inevitably opposed. The setting is a drab dance hall (brilliantly designed the late Rolf Borzik), as separated groups of women and men slowly interact. The need, and quest, for not just intimacy but love ignites a spectrum of actions and reactions, sometimes angrily, often comically, always brilliantly.

Pina Bausch's original approach to theatre and dance influenced and inspired not only a generation of choreographers, but also theatre makers, visual artists and filmmakers. In 2011, German filmmaker Wim Wenders' documentary "Pina" - a tribute to the late choreographer with her dancers performing her most famous creations - was nominated for an Academy Award. Called "A must-see" by Variety and "A thrilling piece of cinema.

Luminato Festival and Tanztheater Wuppertal present KONTAKTHOFChoreography by Pina Bausch4 Performances Only! Wednesday, June 11 - Saturday, June 14, 2014 @ 7:30pmBluma Appel Theatre, St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts, 27 Front Street East Ticket prices range from $45-$125Luminato Festival eNewsletter Subscriber Advance Sale - Wednesday, January 22 @ 12 noon Public On sale - Monday, January, 27 @ 12 noon. Tickets can be purchased online at luminatofestival.com or by calling 416-368-4TIX (4849) Kontakthof at the 2014 Luminato Festival is presented by BMO Financial Group.

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