Skip to content

Information

1979 to 1996

Member of Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch


Biography

Jean Laurent Sasportes

was born in Casablanca, Morocco, in 1952. He began studying maths, physics and philosophy in Marseille in 1970 but something was missing. By chance he met the jazz-dance teacher Anne-Marie Porras in Montpelier. She invited him to watch her small company rehearse. As soon as he arrived he felt in his element, joined in with their rehearsals and learned a choreography he was soon to perform with them on tour. As a result he dropped out of university and began a dance course in Montpelier, with Porras as well as Lise Pinet and Jörg Lanner, two ex dancers from Maurice Béjart’s company. After two years he continued his dance education in Paris under Peter Goss. His first job took him to Munich for six months with Birgitta Trommler.

A bumpy start

From a friend he heard that Pina Bausch in Wuppertal was looking for male dancers. Although he knew nothing about her or her work, he applied. It was an appropriately awkward start. Sasportes was so excited he got toothache and could barely participate in the training and rehearsals. Pina Bausch postponed her decision till after their upcoming Paris shows, in case she couldn’t find anyone at the audition there. Luck was on his side, and in 1979 he joined the Tanztheater Wuppertal ensemble. He learned the repertoire, took over Rolf Borzik’s role in Café Müller, and danced The Rite of Spring and Kontakthof. He grasped what it meant to be present without stealing the limelight. Keuschheitslegende (Legend of chastity) and 1980 were the first new pieces for which he was part of the creative process. He saw Pina Bausch’s working methods – asking questions – as a creative challenge. But this was never about improvisation, more about composition. ‘Really,’ Sasportes says, ‘you had to open the door to your heart.’ You had to understand the nature of the feelings. That was the only way to access the inner logic of the pieces.

An influential figure

Over the years Sasportes became a distinctive figure within the company, appearing in almost all the new pieces until 1996. He could play a gloriously naïve fool one minute, the next a rock-hard stoic or an innocent child. He liked to play distracting characters, disrupting up the piece and causing a disturbance, systematically breaking up cohesion.
In 1996 he left the company, but continued to join them as a guest for Café Müller, 1980, Bandoneon, Viktor, Palermo Palermo, Ahnen, Nelken (Carnations) and Auf dem Gebirge hat man ein Geschrei gehört (On the mountain a cry was heard). He also worked as a freelance dancer, actor, teacher and choreographer. He is famous for his structured improvisations, particularly thanks to the collaboration with musicians such as Peter Kowald and Hans Reichel. He has taught Modern Dance, Kinomichi and his own body discipline Jansannotaiso, internationally. He was founder and artistic director of the dance theatre company CafeAda and created the Ikonoclaste Tanzfestival, which was held in Wuppertal between 2005 and 2008. At the instigation of Stephanie Roos, in 2015 he worked with autistic adults and in 2016 created the dance theatre piece Mein Schloss. Ein Stück über Autismus (‘my castle – a piece about autism’). In 2018 he began a collaboration with the maths professor Barbara Rüdiger-Mastandrea and the video artist Ralf Silberkuhl which led to the piece Am Anfang war das Chaos (‘in the beginning there was chaos’), based on Ludwig Boltzmann’s thermodynamics theories.

Text by Norbert Servos
Translated by Steph Morris


Gallery



Premieres

Season 1979/80

PieceKeuschheitslegende (Legend of Chastity)
Date13 December 1979
VenueOpernhaus Wuppertal
Wuppertal
Germany
DanceAnne Marie Benati
Anne Martin
Arthur Rosenfeld
Beatrice Libonati
Christian Trouillas
Dominique Mercy
Ed Kortlandt
Heide Tegeder
Héléna Pikon
Jan Minařík
Janusz Subicz
Jean Laurent Sasportes
Josephine Ann Endicott
Lutz Förster
Malou Airaudo
Meryl Tankard
Nazareth Panadero
Urs Kaufmann
Vivienne Newport
ActorHans Dieter Knebel
Mechthild Großmann
MusicianMatthias Burkert

piano

ExtraFrank Herfeld

crocodile

Frank Nettesheim

crocodile

Jürgen Koch

crocodile

Klaus Kostka

crocodile

Roman Rohde

crocodile

Ulrich Huppach

crocodile

Werner Simon

crocodile

Wolfgang Weiß

crocodile

StagehandPaul Aron
LightingHans-Joachim Deinert
Make-upHeinz Dildey
SoundHorst Kersten
Klaus Grimm
Ballet masterDominique Mercy
Jean Cébron
Technical directionRolf Bachmann
Leitung KostümRenate Eichberg
Workshop managementLeo Haase
AssistantHans Dieter Knebel
Stage managerHerbert Görsch
PropsGünther Fränzel
Source of castEvening leaflet for “Keuschheitslegende (Legend of Chastity)” by Pina Bausch in in Wuppertal, Dec. 13, 1979
Discover photos, videos and more in the archivesBrowse the archives
Season 1979/80

Piece1980 – A Piece by Pina Bausch
Date18 May 1980
VenueSchauspielhaus Wuppertal
Wuppertal
Germany
Set design assistantGerda Raichle
DanceAnne Marie Benati
Anne Martin
Arthur Rosenfeld
Beatrice Libonati
Ed Kortlandt
Hans Dieter Knebel
Heide Tegeder
Isabel Ribas Serra
Jan Minařík
Janusz Subicz
Jean Laurent Sasportes
Josephine Ann Endicott
Lutz Förster
Malou Airaudo
Mechthild Großmann
Meryl Tankard
Nazareth Panadero
Vivienne Newport
MusicianArthur Sockel

violinist

Matthias Burkert

harmonium player

Special performerHans Günter Witt

wizard

StagehandHeinz Czyganowski
LightingSiegfried Schuchmann
Make-upHeinz Dildey
SoundHelmut Schoth
Ballet masterDominique Mercy
Jean Cébron
Technical directionRolf Bachmann
Leitung KostümRenate Eichberg
Workshop managementLeo Haase
Stage managerPeter Lütke
PropsGerd Klann
Sportler:inMax Walther

gymnast

Source of castEvening leaflet for “1980 – A Piece by Pina Bausch” by Pina Bausch with Tanztheater Wuppertal in in Wuppertal, May 18, 1980
Discover photos, videos and more in the archivesBrowse the archives
Season 1980/81

Season 1981/82

PieceWalzer
Date17 June 1982
VenueKoninklijk Theater Carré Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Netherlands
Costume assistantBernd Bremer
Rosemarie Hess
DanceAnne Marie Benati
Arthur Rosenfeld
Beatrice Libonati
Bénédicte Billiet
Christian Trouillas
Ed Kortlandt
Francis Viet
Hans Pop
Héléna Pikon
Jakob Haahr Andersen
Jan Minařík
Janusz Subicz
Jean Laurent Sasportes
Josephine Ann Endicott
Malou Airaudo
Meryl Tankard
Monika Sagon
Nazareth Panadero
Urs Kaufmann
Vitus Zeplichal
ActorMechthild Großmann
MusicianMatthias Burkert

piano

StagehandHeinz Czyganowski
LightingHans-Joachim Deinert
SoundHartmut Millard
Helmut Schoth
Ballet masterDominique Mercy
Jean Cébron
Stage managerPeter Lütke
Source of castEvening leaflet for “Walzer” by Pina Bausch in in Amsterdam, 06/17/1982 – 06/20/1982
Discover photos, videos and more in the archivesBrowse the archives
Season 1982/83

Season 1983/84

Season 1985/86

Season 1986/87

Season 1989/90

Season 1992/93

PieceDas Stück mit dem Schiff (The Piece with the Ship)
Date16 January 1993
VenueOpernhaus Wuppertal
Wuppertal
Germany
Set design assistantHelga Schnüttgen
DanceAida Vainieri
Barbara Kaufmann
Beatrice Libonati
Bernd Uwe Marszan
Dominique Mercy
Felix Ruckert
Francis Viet
Geraldo Si Loureiro
Hans Beenhakker
Héléna Pikon
Jakob Haahr Andersen
Jan Minařík
Janusz Subicz
Jean Laurent Sasportes
Julie Anne Stanzak
Julie Shanahan
Marigia Maggipinto
Mariko Aoyama
Nazareth Panadero
Quincella Swyningan
Ruth Amarante
Thomas Duchatelet
MusicianMatthias Burkert
LightingKlaus Weiz
Make-upFrank Pohler
SoundFrank Strätker
Klaus Grimm
ManagementMatthias Schmiegelt
Organizational staffClaudia Irman
Ballet masterAgnes Pallai
Brian Bertscher
Christine Kono-Pohlmann
Technical directionDieter Simon
Klaus Weiz
Manfred Marczewski
Leitung BühnentechnikManfred Marczewski
Peter Ernestus
Lighting directionSiegfried Schuchmann
Leitung KostümEvelyn Schönwald
Leitung RequisiteHerbert Kuhn
Workshop managementLeo Haase
Stage managerJürgen Schneidenbach
CloakroomAndreas Maier
Harald Boll
Rosemarie Hess
Source of castEvening leaflet for “Das Stück mit dem Schiff (The Piece with the Ship)” by Pina Bausch in in Wuppertal, Jan. 16, 1993
Discover photos, videos and more in the archivesBrowse the archives


From the Pina Bausch archives
Jean Laurent Sasportes

Sorry, there is no media.


back to top