Palermo, Palermo

In 1989 the German choreographer Pina Bausch headed to Sicily to work on this, her first piece conceived outside the confines of her Wuppertal theatre. Ironically, she was abroad for the most momentous event in her country’s recent history: the collapse of the Berlin Wall. ‘Palermo, Palermo’ opens with a wall smashing across the stage, leaving behind ruins that the dancers will use as props over the course of the next two hours. Yet the political climate seeps into the performance through more subtle channels as well. The energy, driving rhythm and fusion of contemporary styles with ancestral tradition all bespeak a certain optimism, an awareness of a world order undergoing a sea change. Just thrilling.