Type: Presentation
Date: 26 June 2026
Context: International Conference Pina Bausch – From Ritual to Romance, Bergische Universität Wuppertal
Institution: Pina Bausch Foundation
Role: Presenter / Researcher
Speakers / Moderation:
Ricardo Viviani
Isabelle Charnavel
Laura Wiemer — Moderator
Embodied Knowledge Articulated
Reflections on Ten Years of Oral History Collection of the Pina Bausch Archives
This presentation reflected on ten years of Oral History work at the Pina Bausch Archives and on the experiences accumulated through working with dancers and collaborators of Tanztheater. The material considered how oral testimony can bring aspects of artistic experience, memory and professional life into historical documentation.
Drawing on approximately seventy interviews, the presentation addressed questions arising from the documentation of dance as a lived and embodied practice. It considered testimonies in relation to artistic processes, formation, cultural encounters and personal histories, and examined what such accounts can contribute to the understanding of Tanztheater.
The contribution was presented within the conference section Epistemologies and Forms, placing the experience of a long-term Oral History collection in dialogue with other approaches to knowledge in and through dance.
Archival Material:
Presentation material; conference documentation; presentation photograph; related Oral History documentation.
Post Scriptum — 30 August 2026
This entry records a retrospective presentation at the conclusion of ten years of Oral History work connected to the Pina Bausch Archives. The conference context brought this experience into an interdisciplinary discussion of knowledge, form and dance.
Contribution / Ertrag:
The presentation brought a substantial body of long-term Oral History experience into the conference’s discussion of knowledge in and through dance. It presented testimony as a means of accessing aspects of artistic experience that are not fully represented by conventional documentary records.
Assessment / Relevanz:
The entry is relevant as a record of ten years of sustained Oral History work in a major dance archive and of its presentation within an interdisciplinary scholarly context. Its value lies in documenting the accumulated body of work and the questions it raises about how artistic experience enters the historical record.
Keywords:
Oral History; embodied knowledge; Pina Bausch; Tanztheater; dance; testimony; memory; archives; artistic experience; dance history; epistemology
External Links
Matei Chihaia, interview by WDR 3 Mosaik
Pina Bausch – From Ritual to Romance — Bergische Universität Wuppertal
Pina Bausch – From Ritual to Romance — Conference Flyer
Pina Bausch Foundation — Interviews
Internal Links
Presentation Script / Conference Material
Archival Note: This page forms part of an ongoing personal archive documenting Ricardo Viviani’s professional work and activities over more than four decades. Names and other personal information appear where relevant to the documented work or collaboration. If you believe that information concerning you has been published incorrectly or should be reconsidered, please contact me.