July 27
Born Today:
Pina Bausch
Iconoclastic dance-theatre choreographer Pina Bausch (1940-2009) studied with Kurt Jooss (1901-1979) and Antony Tudor (1908-1987) before taking over the Tanztheater Wuppertal in the early 1970s, creating a not-so-quiet dance revolution. She created epic montage works on stages filled with rocks and water (Vollmond - 2006), carnations (Nelken - 1982), or chairs (Cafe Muller - 1978), and much of her work plumbed the depths of fraught relationships. There can be no tepid response to Pina Bausch's work -- it is gritty, real, messy, and disquieting, much like life. Her dances, which combined movement with text and tasks, often made use of repetition and unique partnering. Bausch inspired filmmakers Pedro Almodovar and Wim Wenders, whose film Pina (2011) celebrates her work, often in the great outdoors. If you have not seen it, you must.
Also Born Today: Often compared with her contemporary Marie Camargo (1710-1770), ballerina Marie Sallé (1707-1756) also worked for costume reforms in ballet, eschewing the use of masks. She performed her own choreography, Pygmalion (1734), which caused a sensation because she dared to perform in a Grecian-style draped costume and sandals with her hair flowing loose. Ballet choreographer Louis Merante (1828-1887) is best remembered as the original choreographer for the ballet Sylvia (1876) and for being featured in Edgar Degas (1834-1917) painting Foyer de Danse (1872). Ballerina Vera Karalli (1889-1972) danced with the original Ballets Russes, acted in many Russian silent films, and did she help kill Rasputin? Enquiring minds want to know. Ballet dancer Anton Dolin (1904-1983) danced with the original Ballets Russes in the 1920s and is best known for founding the London Festival ballet with ballerina Alicia Markova (1910-2004) in the 1950s. Ballet dancer David Blair (1932-1976) performed with the Royal Ballet in the 1950s and 1960s and married dancer Maryon Lane (1931-). Ballet dancer Māris Liepa (1936-1989) danced with Maya Plisetskaya (1925-2015) and with the Bolshoi in the 1950s and 1960s. Dancer Kenny Wormald (1984-) has appeared in several dance movies including You Got Served (2004) and the 2011 remake of Footloose, originally a dance film that was released in 1984, the year Wormald was born.