Sweet Mambo

Pina Bausch, the grand dame of German dance-theatre, may no longer be with us, but her works continue to take us to worlds in which we can all recognize ourselves. Characterized by critics as poetic, timeless, elegant, and eloquent, the penultimate work (2008) of this legendary choreographer broke the boundaries between theatre and dance, becoming a catalyst for the course of European dance.

In “Sweet Mambo”, six women and three men appear and disappear in an evocative landscape consisting of an infinite forest of ethereal fabric. They communicate through desire and fear, laughter and pain, loneliness and tenderness.

In Bausch’s universe, linear narrative is superfluous: questions are more important than answers. Everything is possible and everything co-exists in what is a collage of human experiences. It is an absurd and tender universe, violent as well as melancholic: small everyday stories, a brief confession, an invisible gesture, a joyous laughter, a drowned sigh. In her absence, the great choreographer gives us a wink, urging us to explore and embrace the complexity of our existence.