{"id":1302,"date":"2020-07-24T21:29:45","date_gmt":"2020-07-24T21:29:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dancedispatches.com\/blog\/ecole-des-sables-dancing-at-dusk\/"},"modified":"2023-12-26T17:47:40","modified_gmt":"2023-12-26T17:47:40","slug":"ecole-des-sables-dancing-at-dusk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dancedispatches.com\/blog\/ecole-des-sables-dancing-at-dusk\/","title":{"rendered":"\u00c9cole des Sables: ‘Dancing at Dusk’ in Senegal"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Although Pina Bausch\u2019s famous Rite of Spring <\/em>piece (or Le Sacre du printemps<\/em>) is typically performed indoors, on a stage covered in soil \u2013 the artists featured in the Dancing at Dusk<\/em> film run the piece on a sandy beach in Senegal. The cast of African dancers was meant to perform Bausch\u2019s iconic work at a variety of venues, the travel restrictions necessitated by the coronavirus halted their planned tour. So, the dancers filmed their final rehearsal, which was renamed Dancing at Dusk<\/em> and shown by Sadler\u2019s Wells theatre for the entire month of July 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dada Masilo is an artist from South Africa, who choreographed a Giselle set in South Africa<\/a> for her company of black dancers \u2013 and the Dance Theatre of Harlem produced <\/em>Creole Giselle<\/a>, also performed by an entire cast of black dancers.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
A female dancer clutches a pink cloth in Senegal \u00c9cole des Sables’ production of<\/em> Rite of Spring.
Photo credit: polyphem Filmproduktion<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u00c9cole des Sables Le Sacre du printemps<\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Rite of Spring<\/em> was set on \u00c9cole des Sables dancers from 14 African countries for an international co-production between Sadler\u2019s Wells (UK), Pina Bausch Foundation (Germany) and \u00c9cole des Sables (Senegal). The \u00c9cole des Sables was founded in 1998 by Germaine Acogny, widely considered the \u201cmother of contemporary African Dance,\u201d and offers professional training for dancers in both traditional and contemporary African dance styles<\/a>. The school also encourages collaboration between artists within Africa and around the world \u2013 such as this performance of Le Sacre du printemps.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dancing at Dusk<\/em> was directed and edited by Florian Heinzen-Ziob and produced by Polyphem Filmproduktion. Enno Endlicher served as the cinematographer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBringing The Rite of Spring<\/em> to the beach and shooting it just after sunset was a spontaneous reaction to the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic. It was the last moment of being together within a crisis surrounded by uncertainty \u2013 a moment of strength… but also [fragility]…”<\/p>– Salomon Bausch, Pina Bausch Foundation Executive Director<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\"A
Mohamed Y. Shika at Ecole Des Sables jumps in front of a pink bougainvillea tree.
Photo credit: Abdoul Mujyambere<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Dancing at Dusk<\/em> Screendance Review<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A woman lies belly-down at the beach, on a shockingly pink scarf. From far away, passersby might mistake her as a sunbather on a beach towel. Through the lens we watch her languish in the sand \u2013 which infinitely stretches away to the horizon. We also see the wind catch and play with the other dancers\u2019 fluttery garments, as Stravinksy\u2019s eerie melody pricks our ears. The woman drops the cloth and woodenly walks away; but it still has a role to play on this auspicious day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The cluster of female performers stands in close formation and completes the same full body gestures, but they don\u2019t exude the sense of urgent desperation as  Wuppertal Tanztheater Pina Bausch\u2019s dancers. (To be fair, they didn\u2019t have as long to settle into the choreography \u2013 or Bausch herself directing them, even though Josephine Ann Endicott was a prime Artistic Director in her stead.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, their emotions show more strongly as they partition into smaller groups and express themselves individually. One woman faces the camera while her body judders \u2013 like seismic waves wrack her from the inside out. There\u2019s an honesty and openness in her performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
Gloria Biachi and Serge Arthur Dodoc gaze down in <\/em>Dancing at Dusk \u2013 \u00c9cole des Sables’ production of Pina Bausch <\/em>Rite of Spring.
Photo credit: polyphem Filmproduktion<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s a shame that the insufficient natural lighting obscures the movement and expressions of the men when the camera is far away. It makes the dancing look flat and one-dimensional. Still, the male performers dance strongly, powerfully jumping high off of the shifting sands. The choreography and staging does tend to focus on the women, though.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ritual sacrifice selection process unfolds as individuals emerge from a group of cowering women. They tentatively approach the man who holds the fuchsia cloth and bury themselves back into the group as soon as they are free. Surprisingly, there\u2019s little drama when the one-man selection committee grabs the victim\u2019s arm \u2013 but a frenzy breaks out after, and the men roughly toss their female partners side to side.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The human sacrifice, now wearing the magenta garment, holds her arms stoically at her sides. She hunches forward in despair, but a slow, resigned head roll elicits a new determination that carries through until the end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[yasr_overall_rating null size=”large”]<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Dance writers covering the \u00c9cole des Sables Rite of Spring <\/em>were requested to review the film as a rehearsal. So glossing over a few slip-ups from their first time performing on sand and some filming choices, Dancing at Dusk <\/em>is a beautiful production on expressive black performers; and the dancers gain conviction in their new seaside environment as the piece goes on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"Pina<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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\"Pina<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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\"Pian<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Have you seen any live productions or filmed performance of Pina Bausch\u2019s Le Sacre du printemps<\/em>? Or how about Vaslav Nijinsky\u2019s original Rite of Spring<\/em> choreography? Let us know in the comments below!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Although Pina Bausch\u2019s famous Rite of Spring piece (or Le Sacre du printemps) is typically performed indoors, on a stage covered in soil \u2013 the artists featured in the Dancing at Dusk film run the piece on a sandy beach in Senegal. The cast of African dancers was meant to perform Bausch\u2019s iconic work at […]\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1303,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[79],"tags":[86],"class_list":["post-1302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-show","tag-modern-contemporary"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.dancedispatches.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Dancing-at-Dusk-A-Moment-with-Pina-Bauschs-The-Rite-of-Spring-c-polyphem-Filmproduktion.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dancedispatches.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1302","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dancedispatches.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dancedispatches.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dancedispatches.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dancedispatches.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1302"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.dancedispatches.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1302\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1309,"href":"https:\/\/www.dancedispatches.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1302\/revisions\/1309"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dancedispatches.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1303"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dancedispatches.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1302"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dancedispatches.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1302"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dancedispatches.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1302"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}