Poetry and Dance

Lyriktribute to Pina Bausch (Satis Shroff) POETRY AND DANCE (Satis Shroff) Her images were unusual, Shocking to some. Dancers Jeering and tormenting Other dancers. Dancers Throwing ripe tomatoes At each other. Instead of the bastinado, Lighters held on the soles Of other dancers. Women were women And men were men, In Pina’s world. No melange Of oestrogens and testosterons, No X and Y Chromosomes. Her women wore scarlet lips, You were tormented with ballet: Adagio, flips and turns, Carried out rigorously. In the ‘Rite of Spring’ The dancers were covered with soil. In ‘1980’ there was a lawn. In ‘Carnations’ the Nelken were crushed On stage. In ‘Palermo, Palermo’ A tall wall fell apart. That was Pina Bausch live. We’ll miss the facial muscles Of her performers, Her own dance choreography, Warning us all To stop ruining the Umwelt Of this precious planet. A high priestess, A courageous stage poet, Who threw constantly Challenges, With her mute, energetic Choreography. The poetess is gone. What remains are her images, Long after the dancers With their flailing hands, Have vanished into oblivion. A numbness lingers At the Tanztheater Wuppertal. Exit Pina Bausch At the age of 68.