Chantal Akerman’s One Day Pina Asked…

Wednesday, November 29, 2017
7pm
$7 General | $5 Squeaky Wheel members

An encounter between two of the most remarkable women artists of the 20th century, One Day Pina Asked…(1983) is Chantal Akerman’s look at the work of choreographer Pina Bausch and her Wuppertal, Germany-based dance company.

In the film, the Belgian film director gives us an opportunity to consider Bausch’s architectural stage and complex emotional practice. Bausch’s work (as expressed in Akerman’s film) expresses a movement that encompasses both gendered violence and expressions of love, with a kindness generated by pacing. One Day Pina Asked… gives us careful, sharply aimed shots of stage movements, backstage practice sequences, and an iconic eye-to-eye closing sequence with Bausch herself. We’re invited to do more than watch a film transcription of a dance event; instead, Akerman’s work challenges us by suggesting the interstices of the physical and the emotional, the structured and incidental, and the space before the curtain rises.

Curated, and featuring an introduction by Squeaky Wheel Curatorial Intern Colleen Stapleton.

“Both [Bausch and Akerman] create reflective, large-scale visual compositions that convey a powerful but ambiguous emotional intensity.” —Stephen Holden, The New York Times