In this stunning film, Pina Bausch’s 1975 seminal work, The Rite of Spring, is danced in an extraordinary setting, on the beach in Toubab Dialaw, Senegal.

Performed by a specially assembled company of 38 dancers from 14 African countries, this international co-production between Sadler’s Wells (UK), Pina Bausch Foundation (Germany), and École des Sables (Senegal), should have opened in March 2020 in Dakar as part of a double-bill with a new work created and performed by Malou Airaudo and Germaine Acogny, common ground[s]. However, just days before the premiere, performances were cancelled as governments around the world banned public gatherings and began shutting their borders due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

Before disbanding and going into lockdown, the company seized the moment by performing a last rehearsal on a beach near their base at École des Sables in Senegal. Filmmaker Florian Heinzen-Ziob and his crew were able to capture this unique moment in a stunning film.
The Rite of Spring / common ground[s] went on to premiere on 23 September 2021 in Madrid and has been on tour ever since, visiting Sadler’s Wells in 2024, North America, Australia, and several other countries in Europe, including the home of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris, this September.

Dancing at Dusk returns to Digital Stage until 8 Dec 2025 in celebration of the 50th anniversary of Pina Bausch’s The Rite of Spring, which is now on the final leg of its tour appearing at the Bâtiment des Forces Motrice in Geneva (7 Oct 2025) and at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris (24 – 28 Sep 2025), the same venue where Stravinsky’s ballet created shockwaves across the dance world when it premiered there in 1913.