It was 40 years ago that choreographer Pina Bausch first brought Kontakthof to London (it was made in 1978) and yet its subject matter hasn’t aged a bit. Its themes centre on the endless miseries of mating, gender wars and sexual mores as well as the irritations, humiliations and pain we inflict on each other in our struggle to connect and make physical contact. The pursuit, judgment and abuse of women is ever present, too.
The late Bausch was sharp in her commentary and clever in her execution. A cast of 22 populate a dull dance hall, in suits and brightly coloured silk dresses and stilettos. To the gramophone crackle of a 1930s tango, they offer themselves up for examination – teeth, face, posture – and proceed in formation across the stage, knowingly on display.
