The Project

The theatre by the Wupper that used to be the city’s main Schauspielhaus will become the Pina Bausch Centre. The new centre aims to be more than just a place of conservation where a great artistic oeuvre of international standing is cultivated. It will knit together recollection, experimentation, creativity, knowledge transfer, reflection and participation. A new extension will be built as part of the renovation of the Schauspielhaus, for which an architectural competition is due to be announced next year. The concept of the Pina Bausch Centre was developed by Stefan Hilterhaus, artistic and executive director of PACT Zollverein choreographic centre in Essen, on behalf of the city of Wuppertal.

The future Pina Bausch Centre aims to be a forward-looking artistic laboratory with four core activity lines that complement each other and are closely intertwined: Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch will have its new permanent home at the Pina Bausch Centre, with dedicated rehearsal spaces and a venue in the exact place where Pina Bausch created the majority of her works.

A new production centre will offer space and opportunities for the creation of large-scale national and international stage productions across different genres. It will be a place for new German and European premieres, co-productions, the restaging of older works, and technical rehearsals in Wuppertal.

The Pina Bausch Archive provides access to Pina Bausch’s extraordinary artistic legacy. Preserving precious knowledge of her unique oeuvre and bringing a multitude of materials to life, it will inspire future generations and generate new creative activities.

Last but not least, the Forum Wupperbogen is conceived as a laboratory for the development of future cultural organisations. It will explore themes and artistic formats for new participatory projects, aiming to infuse the entire organisation with its democratic ethos.

Building the Pina Bausch Centre is a joint project by the City of Wuppertal, the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, and the German Federal Government.