Awakening – a Camera Performance Inspired by an Encounter with Pina Bausch and the Sleeping Lady of Malta

Pina Bausch is one of the characters in my Ph.D. thesis. Therefore, reconstructing my energetic female lineage, I decided to “meet” her. I went to Ostuni to participate in the workshops Poesia e necessità nel movimento, run by Julie Stanzak, a dancer from the Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch company. The workshops took place at Casina Settarte in Ostuni from August 1-8, 2023. I traveled there with the image of the Maltese Sleeping Goddess (Sleeping Lady), described by Maria Gimbutas in The Civilization of the Goddess—The World of Old Europe (1991). I felt it would fit into my encounter with Pina.

It was very hot in Ostuni. The landscape was dominated by two colors: the blue of the sky and the red of the earth. On the third day of the workshops, during the morning session, we were doing a task in pairs. I closed my eyes, and a colleague led me to a fig tree. As I touched the leaves of the plant, I felt Pina’s subtle presence. I started to cry. I had the impression that I was being held by her. During a break from the classes, as I performed my camera performance Awakening, I felt her presence and guidance.

Pina summed up her method of working with dancers in one simple sentence: “I just look at them. That’s possibly all.” Her working method, based on action through non-action, provided creative space for the dancers. Pina’s presence and attentiveness revealed their highest potential. To me, this is the quintessence of femininity.

Trailer of the performance Awakening