It is much like songs or poetry that lose their essence and impact with translation. Unlike words, images can convey an idea in a moment, without lengthy explanation or discourse. Perhaps I have stumbled upon the reason why Bausch refuses to explain her work except in the most vague terms. Words can be misconstrued. They are concrete entities which measure and label.
Images are elusive, transparent, and ephemeral.
They can shift and create deeply layered levels of meaning. Words, however, are limited to a finite number of meanings. Until we are able to achieve imagistic communication in the perfect world that I dream of, dance, the art form requiring the simultaneous connection of mind, body, and spirit, can fill the void between emotion and expression where words often falter. Meanwhile, as choreographers continue to create work that defies description, writers will keep struggling to overcome the language barrier between the verbal and the non-verbal. And dance, which has survived the removal of all supporting elements, has, according to Bausch, emerged screaming with joy from a bed of silk carnations.