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Information

1979 to 2021

member of the Tanztheater Wuppertal


Biography

Nazareth Panadero

was born 1955 in Madrid, where she studied at the Real Conservatorio under Ana Lázaro, as well as with Juliette Durand, before completing her dance education in Zaragoza with Maria de Ávila. From 1976 to 1978 she danced at the Ballet Théâtre Contemporain d'Angers, where she worked with contemporary American choreographers. She moved to Paris to augment her classical ballet education by studying Modern Dance in Peter Goss’s studio. There she was discovered by Brigitte Real, who invited her to join her Ballet de Poche. In 1979 in Paris, together with her then boyfriend, later husband, Janusz Subicz, she saw Pina Bausch’s Tanztheater Wuppertal performing Bluebeard. While listening to a tape recording of Béla Bartók’s Opera “Duke Bluebeard’s Castle”. It was her first encounter with dance theatre and she was impressed both by this innovative form and by the emotional strength of the piece. More out of curiosity than in the hope of being taken on, they both attended an audition for the company. They wanted to meet the artist at close quarters. Against all expectations Pina Bausch hired both Panadero and Subicz, without knowing they were a couple.

Person and fictional character

Her arrival in the ensemble of strong personalities in Wuppertal began with new challenges, not least Pina Bausch’s way of working, asking her dancers questions. She soon settled into the new methods however. Together, Pina Bausch and Nazareth Panadero created a fictional character who made a mark on many pieces from 1979 onwards. She is a Spanish woman with a rolling R, speaking a fiercely pronounced, slightly abrupt German, telling jokes, or anecdotes invoking her grandmother, or delivering puns in a stentorian voice. She represents a cliché, yet demonstrates in the same instant that this is just an image. At all times, however, Panadero lets the person beneath show through. Her fictional character has many facets. She can play the tetchy, hysterical diva and then the vulnerable Lolita. She can scold or murmur, give angry rasps or low moans. Her humour is laconic and for just that reason spot on. Not that she simply skims the surface, however. ‘Good humour needs a tragic or bitter side, otherwise it has no depth,’ Nazareth Panadero says. With Pina Bausch she was able to explore many different sides to her personality – including the ones she didn’t live out privately, describing herself as shy. Over the decades in Wuppertal she retained this potential for discovering something new. She was part of the creation of nineteen productions in total, from Keuschheitslegende (Legend of Chastity, 1979) to 'Sweet Mambo' (2008) and gave them a unique quality, lodged deep in the memories of audiences.

Now she has started teaching her roles to younger dancers. She also repeatedly creates her own choreographies, such as the piece Nanna quiere bailar (1987), together with Janusz Subicz for the Festival Internacional de Teatro en Granada, as well as several duets with Michael Strecker. As a member of the ensemble she danced in new pieces by Tim Etchells, Alan Lucien Øyen, Richard Siegal and Jonathan Glazer. She recorded the song ‘Los Días Largos’ with Jun Miyake for Lost Memory Theatre – act 3.

She has been awarded many prizes. In 2000 she received the Premio Andorra, in 2014 the Spanish Premio Nacional de Danza and in 2019 the Medalla de Oro por el mérito en Bellas Artes.

Text by Norbert Servos
Translated by Steph Morris


Gallery



Premieres

Season 1979/80

Season 1979/80

Piece1980 – A Piece by Pina Bausch
Date18 May 1980
VenueSchauspielhaus Wuppertal
Wuppertal
Germany
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
Lutz Förster
Mari Di Lena
Mechthild Großmann
Meryl Tankard
Monika Sagon
Nazareth Panadero
Vivienne Newport
Special performerArthur Sockel

violinist

Max Walther

gymnast

Ralf John Ernesto

wizard

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Season 1980/81

Season 1981/82

PieceWalzer
Date17 June 1982
VenueKoninklijk Theater Carré Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Netherlands
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
Costume assistantBernd Bremer
Rosemarie Hess
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
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Season 1982/83

Season 1983/84

Season 1989/90

Season 1990/91

PieceTanzabend II
Date27 April 1991
VenueSchauspielhaus Wuppertal
Wuppertal
Germany
DanceAnne Marie Benati
Barbara Kaufmann
Beatrice Libonati
Bernd Uwe Marszan
Dominique Mercy
Dulce Pessoa
Finola Cronin
Francis Viet
Geraldo Si Loureiro
Jakob Haahr Andersen
Jan Minařík
Janusz Subicz
Julie Anne Stanzak
Julie Shanahan
Kyomi Ichida
Marigia Maggipinto
Mariko Aoyama
Mark Alan Wilson
Nazareth Panadero
Quincella Swyningan
Thomas Duchatelet
Urs Kaufmann
Set design assistantHelga Schnüttgen
LightingJohan Delaere
Make-upCarla Terhardt
ManagementMatthias Schmiegelt
Organizational staffClaudia Irman
Technical directionJohan Delaere
Lighting directionWolfgang Lauber
Leitung KostümEvelyn Schönwald
Leitung RequisiteHerbert Kuhn
Workshop managementLeo Haase
Stage managerPeter Lütke
CloakroomHarald Boll
Rosemarie Hess
Source of castBooklet for “Tanzabend II” by Pina Bausch in in Wuppertal, April 27, 1991
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Season 1992/93

PieceDas Stück mit dem Schiff (The Piece with the Ship)
Date16 January 1993
VenueOpernhaus Wuppertal
Wuppertal
Germany
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
Set design assistantHelga Schnüttgen
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
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Season 1993/94

Season 1995/96

Season 1996/97

Season 1997/98

Season 1998/99

Season 2001/02

Season 2002/03

Season 2003/04

Season 2005/06

Season 2007/08



From the Pina Bausch archives
Nazareth Panadero

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