Meryl Tankard: He said he'd love to set me on fire

I felt really close to Rolf. I could speak really easily to Rolf. I was devastated when Rolf died. It was never the same after he was no longer there. I loved to go to the fundus with Rolf and search for costumes. I remember the time he came to my apartment to fix my washing machine. He reminded me of my father then, so creative and also so practical. I will never forget the time during Keuschheitslegende rehearsals when he said he‘d love to set me on fire and send me into the audience and we were wondering how we could do it! ...Then at the Yugoslavian restaurant that night when I ordered my usual ice cream with hot cherry sauce flambe the waiter accidentally poured the alcohol on my arm and my whole arm went up in flames! Luckily I was wearing an old woollen jumper of my father‘s and I was not burnt ... It was like magic! ... We were all so upset when Rolf died ... We never thought that we could do another piece without him ... but somehow we had to give Pina the strength to create a beautiful piece dedicated to Rolf. For Rolf ... somehow I found I lost my shyness and fear ... some sort of power took over ... I wanted to create a beautiful landscape for him ... green hills and valleys with trees and rivers and streams ... a perfect landscape ... Somehow an inner strength returned ... and we created 1980 for Rolf ... It was never the same after that.

From Rolf Borzik und das Tanztheater, published by Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch for the 20th anniversary of Rolf Borzik's death in 2000