Review: NELKEN - A PIECE BY PINA BAUSCH at Sadler’s Wells

Stuart King 15 February, 2024, 11:55

Last seen at Sadler’s Wells in 2005, NELKEN is steeped in dance history and leans on a veritable smorgasbord of music drawn from the 1930s and 1940s. The eagle-eared will recognise, Richard Tauber, Gershwin, Franz Lehar and Sophie Tucker accompanying the troupe of over 20 performers as they deliver the walking dance which depicts the four seasons.

Nelken Nelken - credit Oliver Look- Luciény Kaabral, Andrey Berezin, Alexander López Guerra

Guards with Alsatians patrol the perimeter of a field of upright pink carnations (the flower from which the piece derives its title) as the troupe of dancers and 4 stuntmen create the conditions and situations in which the blossoms are trampled by individuals who are treated as suspicious undesirables and continually asked for their passports. There’s comedy, subtext, skill and urgency in much of what is presented, but on the whole, what once might have been considered groundbreaking and extraordinary, feels a tad exhausting in this post-Brexit world. Even the passports which are shown, prove to be a sadly jarring mix of both red and dark blue in Peter Pabst’s design, and given the many French accents — both on stage and in the audience — it created an oddly unsettling ‘them and us’ feel to the piece on press night.