How Did Pina Bausch Reinterpret Opera? — From Orpheus to Bluebeard : Tsugumi KONDO
Abstract
Pina Bausch (1940–2009), whose work became synonymous with German Tanztheater, began her choreographic career by engaging extensively with opera. In 1975, she created Orpheus und Eurydike as a Tanzoper (“dance opera”) based on Christoph Willibald Gluck’s Orpheus and Eurydice. By separating the roles of singers and dancers, the work embodies the emotional world of the myth through movement while remaining closely connected to the operatic score. Two years later, however, Bausch premiered Bluebeard – While Listening to a Tape Recording of Béla Bartók’s Opera “Duke Bluebeard’s Castle” (1977), a work that deconstructed opera through the repetitive playback of a recorded performance and a collage-like dramaturgy. At the same time, it went beyond Bartók’s opera to embody the broader historical and cultural legacy of the Bluebeard legend, foreshadowing the choreographic methods that would later define Bausch’s Tanztheater.
This presentation compares these two works—both of which continue to be performed in Germany and France today—to examine how Bausch’s approach to opera changed over the course of just two years. Drawing on choreographic analysis, along with the cultural context of West Germany in the 1970s as well as perspectives from memory studies, I argue that Bausch’s fusion of opera and dance gradually shifted from embodying operatic tragedy to employing opera as a medium for cultural critique.
Event Outline
- Time and Date: October 10th (Sat.) 2026, 16:30 – 18:00 (JST)
- Format: Hyflex (On-Campus and Online meeting (Zoom))
- Presenter: Tsugumi KONDO
- Venue: Waseda University, Nishi-Waseda Campus, Room 503 of Building 52
*No advance registration is required. - Affiliation: Waseda University
- Moderator: Yoshiko OKAMOTO
- Language: Japanese
- Organized by: Waseda Institute of Research in Opera and Music Theatre (WIROM), Comprehensive Research Organization, Waseda University
Profile of Presenter
Tsugumi KONDO is an Assistant Professor at the Tsubouchi Memorial Theatre Museum, Waseda University, and a dance researcher. From 2020 to 2023, she worked with the Executive Office of EPAD (Emergency / Eternal Performing Arts Archive and Digital Theatre), a national initiative supporting the archiving and digital preservation of the performing arts. She joined the Tsubouchi Memorial Theatre Museum in 2024. In 2025, she curated the museum’s spring special exhibition, Can Theatre Represent the Experience of War? 80 Years of Japanese Theatre after World War II, and edited the accompanying volume published by Waseda University Press. She received her Ph.D. in Literature from the Graduate School of Letters, Arts and Sciences, Waseda University, in 2025.
Registration
Registration is required by October 9th (Fri.) for online participants. Please complete your registration via the provided URL.
https://list-waseda-jp.zoom.us/meeting/register/0i9Kxs0CQlyFVp9rhMt_Ew
*Please show your full name on the display, mute yourself, and turn off the video, except when talking; refrain from taking screenshots, recordings, etc., and follow the moderator’s instructions.
Contact
Institute of Research in Opera and Music Theatre (WIROM), Comprehensive Research Organization, Waseda University: https://prj-opera-mt.w.waseda.jp/
e-mail address: operaken-uketsuke[at]list.waseda.jp ([at] = @)
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