Wolves at Dawn

Pina Bausch Centre under construction, Bundesallee 260, Wuppertal

18 / 9 €

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"In the labyrinth of humanity's depths,
Echoes the primal heartbeat that nature begets.
Beneath the veneer of a civilized guise,
Lurks the untamed spirit where wildness lies."

Wolves at Dawn is a raw, physical exploration of our primal instincts and their liberation, inviting audiences into a visceral ceremony of humanity’s deep-rooted connection to nature. Through intense physicality and immersive, meditative soundscapes, the dancers offer an intimate lens into identity and the shared human experience.

This world premiere brings together dancers from Cuba’s renowned Danza Contemporánea de Cuba and the ArtEZ Dance Bachelor program in Arnhem, crafting a unique movement language that fuses African and Latin American dance traditions with contemporary expression. Supported by live music from Julio Cesar Iglesias Ungo, the performance builds a powerful, boundary-pushing atmosphere—a tremor of rediscovery, as if the earth itself were poised to quake.

Through dance and music, Wolves at Dawn invites the audience to shed their masks and reconnect with life’s forgotten depths—where unspoken dreams, ancient instincts, and hidden stories stir beneath the surface, awakened through raw, embodied expression.

At its core, the piece investigates the collision between our inner worlds and our primal, animal nature. It explores how our biological selves coexist—and often clash—with the constructs of modern society. Where does the inner animal reside in a world of social masks? What parts of us have been tamed, and which still yearn to roam free?

Wolves at Dawn provokes deep reflection on our origins, our path forward, and—most crucially—our present state of being. It asks the timeless, urgent questions: Where do we come from? Where are we going? And where are we now?

Funded by: Kunststiftung NRW, Danzacontemporanea de Cuba, Julio Cesar Iglesias Ungo und Ministerium für Kultur und Wissenschaft des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen

A cooperation with the Pina Bausch Centre and Tanz Station – Barmer Bahnhof.