Abstract of Commemorative lecture
What Moves Me
I am going to give an account of my life, in a very personal way, with lots of small experiences and events.
I shall include my early childhood in Solingen, the town where I was born in 1940. This period was very much shaped by the war: the air raids, going into the shelter, the whole fight for survival.
My parents had a small hotel and a restaurant. Some of the guests - singers from the nearby theatre - noticed my suppleness and my love of movement. One day they took me with them to the children's ballet. I soon realized this was what I wanted to do - this was my form of expression, my language. I wanted to become a dancer.
At the age of 14, I went to Essen to study dance at the Folkwangschule. What made it so great and unique was the fact that both the performing and fine arts were taught under one and the same roof. Hence music, opera, drama and dance were alongside painting, sculpture, photography, graphic design, etc. Cross-fertilization happened as a matter of course, so that you learned about and became aware of something from every discipline. Many projects came into being. This creativity had a great influence on my later work. As did my studies in New York. It was the great period of dance. Working with so many unusual teachers and choreographers and the wealth of adventures and experiences - all coexisting alongside each other - left a very deep and important impression on me.
That is why I found the decision to accept the offer of returning to the newly founded Folkwang Ballet a very difficult one to make. I danced, had lessons, did my first choreography and then later took of the directorship of this company - again there were many new experiences and a great deal of responsibility.
Since 1973 we have been on the stages in Wuppertal - the Tanztheater Wuppertal. There I have gone a long way with my dancers. Every day, in full view of the public, we undertake voyages of discovery - into ourselves and into the world around us. Exciting, often very difficult and painful, yet still pleasing. Almost forty pieces have been produced so far - many coproductions with towns and cities in other countries.
In every set of circumstances there have been challenges and crises. I shall attempt to recount these. At the same time I shall tell of the very difficult and apparently hopeless situations and how something new and revolutionary developed for our work.
