Ecole des Sables: Rite of Spring/Common Grounds[s]

Pina Bausch’s The Rite of Spring (1975) is danced by a newly assembled company of dancers from 14 African countries. In this pioneering work, with music by Stravinsky, a ‘chosen one’ is sacrificed changing the season from winter to spring. common ground[s] is a new work created, performed and inspired by the lives of two remarkable women: Germaine Acogny, “the mother of contemporary African dance” and founder of École des Sables and Malou Airaudo who joined Bausch in the early days of Tanztheater Wuppertal and later professor and director at Folkwang University. This poetic and tender piece, the duo’s first collaboration, examines their shared histories and emotional experiences.