Since She

"Since she" was the first full-length work created for Pina Bausch's company, Tanztheatre Wuppertal, since her death in 2009. The set features a tall pile of foam mats resembling a slate mountain, which the performers climb, slide down, and sink into. As the piece moves through a series of surreal, dreamlike sequences, it can be challenging to know where to focus. The hill, complete with a tree and root ball that is repeatedly planted, removed, and moved up and down, creates a voyeuristic dream-like atmosphere with slow-moving quicksand.

The dramatic black mountain dominates the stage. Performers engage in visually striking acts, such as a man scuttling like a multi-legged beast with long tubes threaded through his trousers and a woman wearing a dress pierced with arrows. The opening sequence features sixteen elegantly-dressed performers building a bridge of chairs to cross the stage, ending with one chair placed just out of reach behind the last performer.

The stage is continuously transformed with new props. A particularly brilliant section involves tables and chairs used in movement, acting as whirling, momentary suspensions and traveling, hovering platforms. The art direction presents a succession of fantastical images and dreamscapes, evoking Greek myths, a descent into the underworld, religious iconography, and images reminiscent of Hieronymus Bosch or Dalí.