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On 17 October 1996, Arizona Statue University presented at Gammage Auditorium a $2 million dance theater production of "Nur Du (Only You)" that was commissioned jointly by ASU, UC Berkley, UCLA and UT Austin. It was a monumental tour de force for the director/choreographer, Pina Bausch. Her audience drew from dancers all over the Valley, from college students to retirees. The performance was accorded three curtain calls that finally drew out the 'uncrowned empress of modern dance' (Newsweek) to a standing ovation.
I had gone expecting to see dance, but I also went to see the 'grande dame of the avante-garde' (Arizona Republic). I was disappointed by the scarcity of the former, and exhausted by the latter. Over 25 dance numbers in three and a half hours, with over two dozen international dancers, eight tons of scenary, 35 music credits (which were incomplete as I heard an uncredited 'I Cover the Waterfront'), and the list of excesses goes on.
The production lacked cohesiveness, structure and aesthetics. The dancers were seldom challenged by the choreography. It was more like a 3-ring circus with simultaneous but unrelated snippets (not even vignettes) being performed, much like a Sunday evening with Ed Sullivan showing kinetic art. There was no listing in the program to get a clue as to the theme of each number (probably too many to do so). In addition, some snippets were too short (say, 15-30 seconds) to really develop a theme. Even 'Fantasia' did a better job with better music in less time.
Ms Bausch caricatures ordinary movements of everyday living without context, sight gags translated to dance theater. Take the two dancers who WALK on stage, one with his head enclosed in a clear plastic bag open at the top, the second carrying a pail of water. The first dancer stops at center stage holding the plastic bag open above his head, while the second proceeds to pour the water into the plastic bag. The first dancer then calmly WALKS offstage with his features made grotesque by the water-filled bag. Or the mere walk-ons for bizarre shock value like the clear plastic takeout box fashioned into a male bra containing four live mice. Quite often it is a progressive movement repeated almost interminably from one side of the stage to the other. It is a kind of brainstorming of dance-inspirations that fizzle often ungracefully.
There were some noteworthy surreal movements like the chorus line of female dancers lilting their heads to sway their long hair and match the cadence of their long flowing gowns. Or the slow motion rape attempt and subsequent self-defense demonstration. Not often enough, there were subtle movements like the flexing of the wrists or the undulation of bare feet.
A final note, the production did involve full male and female nudity in makeshift bath stalls of clear plastic bags, and other glimpses of the female form that prompted complaints to the University. My complaint would be a class action suit on behalf of the taxpayers from three states that footed some or all of that $2 million bill.
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