Negotiating boundaries: Tanztheater, DV8 and the politics of embodied risk in Physical Theatre
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18533/zw8pxt91Keywords:
modern dance, dance theatre, Pina BauschAbstract
This article examines the legacy of Pina Bausch’s Tanztheater in shaping DV8 Physical Theatre and argues that DV8 developed a politics of embodied risk that has been central to the development of physical theatre in the United Kingdom. The establishment of DV8 in 1986 brought public recognition to the form and defined it as a distinctive practice within contemporary performance. Methodologically, the study combines historiographic research into Ausdruckstanz and Tanztheater, performance analysis of works such as Dead Dreams of Monochrome Men (1988), Enter Achilles (1995), and MSM (Men who have Sex with Men) (1993), and practice-based reflection on rehearsal processes and improvisation. The analysis shows how DV8 inherited and extended Bausch’s innovations: risk-taking in both physical expression and thematic content, the conception of the performer as a thinking and feeling subject, and the integration of spoken language with movement. By redefining choreography around individuality, everyday gesture and socially engaged themes, DV8 advanced physical theatre as an intellectually provocative and politically resonant form that clarifies the term’s genealogical and aesthetic stakes.
References
Au, S., & Rutter, J. (2012). Ballet and modern dance. London: Thames & Hudson.
Banes, S. (2002). Democracy's body: Judson Dance Theater, 1962–1964. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
Banes, S. (2013). Dancing women: Female bodies onstage. Hoboken, NJ: Taylor & Francis.
Bradley, K. (2009). Rudolf Laban. London & New York: Routledge.
Climenhaga, R. (2009). Pina Bausch. London & New York: Routledge.
Climenhaga, R. (2013). The Pina Bausch sourcebook: The making of Tanztheater. London: Routledge.
Copeland, R. (2004). Merce Cunningham: The modernizing of modern dance. New York, NY: Routledge.
Duncan, I. (1995). My life. New York, NY: Liveright.
Daly, A. (1994). Isadora Duncan and the distinction of dance. The University of Kansas. Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://journals.ku.edu/amsj/article/download/2829/2788/3159
Fernandes, C. (2001). Pina Bausch and the Wuppertal Dance Theatre: The aesthetics of repetition and transformation. New York, NY: Peter Lang Publishing, Inc.
Foster, S. L. (2006). Choreographing history. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.
Franko, M. (1995). Dancing modernism. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.
Giannachi, G., & Luckhurst, M. (Eds.). (1999). On directing. London: Faber.
Graham, S., & Hoggett, S. (2009). The Frantic Assembly: Book of devising theatre. London: Routledge.
Hanna, J. L. (1988). Dance, sex and gender: Signs of identity, dominance, defiance, and desire. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
Hodgson, J. (2001). Mastering movement: The life and work of Rudolf Laban. Methuen.
Hodgson, J., & Preston-Dunlop, V. (1990). Rudolf Laban: An introduction to his work and influence. Northcote House.
Horst, L., & Russell, C. (1963). Modern dance forms in relation to the other modern arts. San Francisco, CA: Dance Horizons.
Howe, D. S. (1987). The notion of mysticism in the philosophy and choreography of Mary Wigman 1914–1931. Dance Research Journal, 19(1), 19–24.
Kristeva, J. (1971). Rudolf Laban speaks about movement and dance: Lectures and articles (L. Ullmann & S. Addlestone, Eds.). London: Laban Art of Movement Centre.
Laban, R. (1958). The world of rhythm and harmony. LAMG Magazine.
Laban, R. (1959). The rhythm of effort and recovery I. LAMG Magazine.
Lloyd, M. (2013). Borzoi book of modern dance. Literary Licensing, LLC.
Markard, A., & Markard, H. (1985). Jooss. Cologne: Ballett-Bühnen-Verlag.
Manning, S. A. (1986). An American perspective on Tanztheater. TDR, 30, 57–79.
Manning, S. A. (1993). Ecstasy and the demon: Feminism and nationalism in the dances of Mary Wigman. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
McCormack, J. (2018). Choreography and verbatim theatre: Dancing words. Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan.
Murray, S. D., & Keefe, J. (2016). Physical theatres: A critical introduction. Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge.
Newlove, J. (1993). Laban for actors and dancers. London: Nick Hern Books.
Newhall, M. A. S. (2009). Mary Wigman. London & New York: Routledge.
Partsch-Bergsohn, I. (1987). Dance theatre from Rudolf Laban to Pina Bausch. Dance Theatre Journal, 37–39.
Partsch-Bergsohn, I., & Bergsohn, H. (2003). The makers of modern dance in Germany: Rudolf Laban, Mary Wigman, Kurt Jooss. Hightstown, NJ: Princeton Book Co.
Preston, C. J. (2005). The motor in the soul: Isadora Duncan and modernist performance. Modernism/modernity, 12(2), 273–289. https://doi.org/10.1353/mod.2005.0064
Servos, N. (1981). The emancipation of dance: Pina Bausch and the Wuppertal Dance Theatre. Modern Drama, 22(4), 435–447.
Servos, N. (1984). Pina Bausch Wuppertal Dance Theatre or the art of training a goldfish. Cologne: Ballett-Bühnen-Verlag.
Schmidt, J. (1982). What moves them and how: On several trends and tendencies of the 81/82 dance season. Ballett International, 5(6/7).
Schmidt, J. (1984). Pina Bausch: A constant annoyance. In N. Servos & G. Weigelt, Pina Bausch Wuppertal Dance Theatre (pp. xx–xx). Cologne: Ballett-Bühnen-Verlag.
Sorell, W. (1975). The Mary Wigman book: Her writings. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press.
Sirotkina, I., & Smith, R. (2019). The sixth sense of the avant-garde: Dance, kinaesthesia and the arts in revolutionary Russia. London: Bloomsbury Methuen Drama.
Thomas, H. (1993). Dance, gender and culture. London: Macmillan.
Wigman, M. (1966). The language of dance. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 YOU LYU
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
