• Australian Paul White and dancers in Tanztheater Wuppertal's Nelken. Photo: Alexandros Sarakasidis.
    Australian Paul White and dancers in Tanztheater Wuppertal's Nelken. Photo: Alexandros Sarakasidis.
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35 years ago, Pina Bausch’s Tanztheater Wuppertal made its Australian debut at the Adelaide Festival. In March 2016 the internationally renowned German dance theatre company will return to the Adelaide Festival with Bausch’s 1982 work Nelken (Carnations). It will be the company’s first visit to Australia since Bausch’s passing in 2009.

A head on collision of beauty and nightmare; innocence and brutality, Nelken is inspired by Bausch’s childhood in post-war Germany. Performed by 23 dancers and 4 professional stuntmen atop thousands of pink carnations that carpet the stage, the dream-like vignettes (a hallmark of Bausch's work) explore control, power and love through absurd humour and vivid imagery – men in evening gowns playing leapfrog, barking Alsatians, a near-naked woman carrying an accordion, and a solitary man hand-signing the words to George Gershwin’s “The Man I Love”.

The Adelaide Festival’s dance program will also feature Monumental by Canada’s The Holy Body Tattoo, Habitus by Australian Dance Theatre and Body of Work by Atlanta Eke. Head to the Adelaide Festival website for more info. 

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