Kontakthof - Echoes of '78' at Sadler's Wells

Friday April 10th. I spent my 77th birthday at Sadler’s Wells Theatre in London watching ‘Kontakthof – Echoes of ’78’.

Originally premiered in 1978, ‘Kontakthof’ is a seminal piece in Pina Bausch’s repertoire, created at a time when her work was beginning to receive international recognition.

It is said that Pina often mused on the idea of seeing her original cast dance the piece when older. Now, almost five decades later, a new encounter with ‘Kontakthof’ has been created by choreographer Meryl Tankard, who was one of the main characters in 1978. Seeing the performers on stage recreating their past performance filled me mostly with sadness except from two magical moments. At the end of the first half they sat in a line towards the front of the stage passing a microphone along to re-introduce themselves as 70 and 80 year olds. “I miss my mother. I wish I had children” “I kiss my husband every morning”.

The second moment was the curtain call. The company came right down stage to take their bow and I saw them completely for the first time. Long lives fully lived. Vulnerable yet happy, content older people. Grateful for the memories, happy to be together again, generous souls making a powerful connection with the audience who seemed to be a collection of old friends meeting again after a long time. It was a beautiful moment when I felt the whole audience were so grateful for them still being there and they were grateful for us being there too.

This felt like a full‑circle moment. Sixteen years ago, I saw a version of Kontakthof, performed by an ensemble of non-professional performers aged 60+ from the city of Wuppertal where the company was/is based. This version had toured to major festivals across the world. Older people performing an extraordinary piece of work to great critical acclaim.

I loved the piece – It spoke to me in such a profound way.

It instilled in me the belief that a person standing on a stage, with a light shining on them doing nothing, just being themselves, can be beautiful. Anything else they do, if they dance, sing, tell a story, perform an opera – that’s the bonus.

This idea motivated me to create The Performance Ensemble, an company of older performers who work together over a long period of time. Their presence, their histories, their stories become the material for the work.

Our ensemble has a definite European Theatre aesthetic. They don’t ‘act’ or pretend to be characters but simply stand on stage and tell their own extraordinarily-ordinary stories, alongside carefully crafted music, dance, light, and space.

On my birthday I also often think about a piece I saw as part of Glasgow’s City of Culture Year in 1990. ’Today Is My Birthday’ devised by Tadeusz Kantor for his company, Cricot 2, was an extraordinary piece of work. Kantor died shortly before the premiere but the chair he always directed from during performances was left empty on stage. The recordings of his voice played throughout the piece were visceral and resonant in his absence. Performers stood inside frames and told stories of their lives and of stories from Kantor’s life. Stories of war, struggles, love and resilience.

I have been blessed by meeting and learning from many great pioneer artists from across the world. From Peter Brook, Lev Dodin, Yukio Ninagawa, Alain Platel, John Fox & Sue Gill and Robert Lepage to name but a few. At 77, I believe I am the oldest artistic director of an Arts Council England National Portfolio company. I am extremely grateful that I am still able make work. I don’t have the energy I used to have, I forget people’s names and I can’t remember what I did yesterday but I am pretty fit and still get over excited in the rehearsal room . I need a lot of sleep and all the contribution, care and support from my colleagues at The Performance Ensemble. I am particularly grateful for the working relationship I have enjoyed for over 50 years with the choreographer and performer Tamara McLorg and Mandy Stewart, who is still chair of our board, and have worked together for over 40 years.

I still feel that we, at The Performance Ensemble, have a job to do. We create art with the experience of age. We share stories and build relationships with older people across the world. We believe in a world in which all older people everywhere are involved in creativity and are respected and celebrated. That gives us purpose.

Photograph: Ursula Kaufmann