In Pina Bausch's 1977 dance-theater piece Bluebeard, a man (Bluebeard) obsessively plays and rewinds a tape of Béla Bartók's opera while interacting with dancers, especially a woman portraying his captive bride. The stage, covered in debris, reflects decay and confinement. Through raw, repetitive movements, the dancers express control, submission, and resistance. Blending dance and theater, Bausch uses fragmented gestures, spoken words, and intense emotions to explore power, love, and destruction in relationships.