In Lynn Garafola’s outstanding new biography of Bronislava Nijinska, she points out how little of the work of this important pioneer of neoclassical dance has survived. Only Les Noces and Les Biches have been preserved as she created them – and they are rarely performed.
It’s a problem the heirs of Pina Bausch face today. The choreographer, who died in 2009, undoubtedly altered the course of contemporary dance, but without her presence and in the absence of dancers who remember her requirements, how do you make sure that her significance and her repertory persist? More crucially, how do you keep her relevant?
