Kontakthof – Echoes of ’78

Last Updated on April 8, 2026

Veteran Pina Bausch Dancers Reimagine a Landmark Work

4.0 out of 5.0 stars

The late great German choreographer Pina Bausch created Kontakthof for Tanztheater Wuppertal in 1978.  At about three hours’ length, it was, like so much of Bausch’s output, an expressionist piece of dance theatre – truth to tell, always more theatre than dance – focusing on human interactions and the ever-frustrated search for connection and elusive love – in short, the pathos and absurdity of life itself.

The dancers of her relatively new company (she had become director five years previously) were young;  even while creating Kontakthof, Bausch had the idea of remounting it with the original cast 30 years on, burnished by time and life itself.

Pina Bausch died in 2009 without having realised her wish, but 46 years on, Kontakthof was reborn through the efforts of the Australian former Bausch dancer, choreographer and film-maker Meryl Tankard, at the request of Bausch’s son, who is the custodian of her work.  It premiered in 2024 at Wuppertal Opera House and has now reached Sadler’s Wells, prime Pina Bausch territory in London.

Entitled Kontakthof – Echoes of ’78, this is not a replay of the original, but rather a reimagining at half the length, bringing together nine original cast members all now in their 70s and 80s, and combining their stage presence with film of the original performance featuring those who are no longer with us.

As the piece develops, the juxtaposition is, at times, almost unbearably poignant, a record of passing time and simultaneously a record of absence.  It starts with one dancer in Bausch’s trademark satin evening gown and stilettos standing downstage while an outsize black and white image of herself is projected onto a scrim.  With perfect coordination, the two execute a number of simple hand gestures, turn sideways, grin, face forward again, in a repetitive sequence in which they are gradually joined by other cast members, the men in sombre black suits and ties, and their identically attired filmed images.

Meryl Tankard used archival film, captured by Bausch’s partner Rolf Borzik, and edited the footage to one and a half hours.  In doing so, she created a new, intensely nostalgic narrative that incorporates a silent dialogue between live dancers and filmed images, without losing either the essence of the original work or Bausch’s intention.

Kontakthof – Echoes of ’78 uses the original Rolf Borzik set, a denuded hall starkly lit by Ryan Joseph Stafford, with a line of grey metal chairs set expectantly against a raised stage, and an upright piano in a corner.   

Here, to a sequence of German popular songs of the 1930s, such as you might hear in a provincial dance hall, the original cast members – Meryl Tankard (70), Josephine Ann Endicott (76), Lutz Förster (73), John Giffin (79), Ed Kortlandt (80), Beatrice Libonati (71), Anne Martin (72) and Arthur Rosenfeld (74)  (Elisabeth Clarke was indisposed on press night) – recreate some original sequences their bodies still remember so well, even though their movement is naturally slower.

Their limitations are pointed up in a rare laugh-out-loud sequence, where Tankard tries to get Rosenfeld to wiggle his hips in a circular motion, which he can no longer do, though some of the others can.   

The loose context is, as always, a mating game that inevitably leads nowhere.  Even as they come briefly together, there’s no joy or hope in their faces.   Unexpectedly manic laughter erupts.  A woman plays a note or two on the piano and warbles tunelessly.   And then comes the immense relief, a Bausch signature parade, always such a pleasure to watch.

Just before the interval, they sit on a line of chairs facing the audience and talk briefly about themselves – their ages, their place of birth (Bausch’s company was always multinational), offering a few tantalising snippets of themselves, that intimate reveal is also very much part of Bausch’s signature.

The final extended sequence, where the dancers watch film of a woman being preyed on, crowded, pawed and finally laid on the ground by a gang of men, including their younger selves, is deeply disturbing, a reminder that misogyny was a constant preoccupation throughout Bausch’s oeuvre.

Kontakthof – Echoes of ’78 is a Sadler’s Wells co-production and is presented as part of the month-long Elixir Festival, which is billed as “rethinking perceptions around dance and age”. 

Kontakhof – Echoes of ’78 is at Sadler’s Wells until 11 April

Elixir Festival runs until 27 April at Sadler’s Wells and Sadler’s Wells East

Sadler’s Wells
Rosebery Avenue
London EC1R 4TN

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