Pina Bausch Foundation

Pina Bausch Foundation
Name	Pina Bausch Foundation
Native name	Stiftung Pina Bausch
Type	Foundation
Founded	2009
Founder	Barbara Noack, Rolf Borzik
Headquarters	Wuppertal, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
Purpose	Preservation and promotion of the artistic legacy of Pina Bausch

Pina Bausch Foundation

The Pina Bausch Foundation was established in 2009 to preserve, document, and disseminate the artistic legacy of choreographer and dancer Pina Bausch. It functions as a custodian of archives, a patron of restagings and research, and a partner to institutions, companies, and festivals worldwide. The Foundation engages with museums, theatres, universities, and cultural organizations to maintain the ongoing performance life of works by Pina Bausch and to support contemporary dance scholarship.

History

The Foundation was created in the aftermath of Pina Bausch's death in 2009 to steward her body of work, responding to interests from institutions such as the Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch, the Theatre des Champs-Élysées, the Bauhaus-Archiv, and international presenters including Lincoln Center and Sadler's Wells. Early collaborations involved negotiations with the estate administrators and cultural ministries in Germany and partners like the Kulturstiftung des Bundes and municipal authorities in Wuppertal. The Foundation built on preservation models demonstrated by entities such as the Graham Foundation, the Merce Cunningham Trust, and the Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance, while addressing challenges similar to those faced by the Schoenberg Center and the Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen.

Mission and Activities

The Foundation's mission encompasses documentation, licensing, conservation, and facilitation of restagings, emulating practices from the Getty Foundation and the Paul Sacher Stiftung in archival stewardship. It issues permissions for productions and collaborates with companies like Scapino Ballet, Royal Ballet of Flanders, and institutions such as the Juilliard School and the Conservatoire de Paris to support rehearsals and revivals. Programmatically, the Foundation organizes exhibitions akin to those at the Museum of Modern Art, curates events with partners like the Victoria and Albert Museum, and engages with festivals such as Festival d'Avignon and the Montpellier Danse.

Archive and Collections

The Foundation maintains a comprehensive archive including scores, choreography notations, costume designs, set models, photographic material, and video recordings, following archival standards used by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek and the Bundesarchiv. Holdings document collaborations with designers and artists linked to names such as Rolf Borzik, Marianne Hoppe, Isabella Rossellini, and craftsmen associated with the Wuppertal Opera House. The collection is catalogued with reference to practices at the Smithsonian Institution and the British Library and provides access for curators from institutions like the Centre Pompidou and the Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe.

Research, Education, and Outreach

The Foundation facilitates scholarly research by granting access to materials for scholars affiliated with universities including Humboldt University of Berlin, the University of Oxford, the University of California, Berkeley, and the Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne. It supports doctoral projects, symposia, and residencies modeled on programs at the European Research Council and in partnership with cultural bodies such as the Goethe-Institut, the British Council, and the Alliance Française. Educational initiatives target dance schools like the Palucca Hochschule für Tanz Dresden and the Codarts Rotterdam, and outreach collaborations have included community projects with Yerba Buena Center for the Arts and the Tate Modern.

Governance and Funding

The Foundation is governed by a board and advisory committees drawing expertise from cultural managers, scholars, and former company members, reflecting governance frameworks seen at the Kunststiftung NRW and the Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz. Funding sources combine public grants from agencies like the Ministerium für Kultur und Wissenschaft Nordrhein-Westfalen, project-based support from foundations such as the Robert Bosch Stiftung and the Kulturstiftung der Länder, and private donations from patrons comparable to benefactors of the Deutsche Bank Stiftung and corporate sponsors engaged with the Deutsche Telekom Stiftung. Income also derives from licensing fees, ticketed events, and partnerships with presenters including the Brooklyn Academy of Music and the Hamburger Bahnhof.

Awards and Collaborations

The Foundation supports awards, residencies, and commissioning programs that honor innovation in choreography, similar in spirit to prizes like the Golden Lion and the Europe Theatre Prize. It has collaborated on projects with companies and institutions such as Volksbühne Berlin, Komische Oper Berlin, The Forsythe Company, and festivals including ImPulsTanz and Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival. Collaborative research initiatives have been undertaken with academic centers including the Max Planck Society and the Zentrum für Kunst und Medien, and curated exhibitions have been mounted in venues like the K21 Ständehaus and the Deichtorhallen.

Category:Foundations based in Germany Category:Contemporary dance