Cucumber salad

In the autumn of 1992 a collaboration began between Reflex, one of Holland’s most prominent modern dance groups, and Rosa von Praunheim, a well known film director from Berlin. Reflex engaged Von Praunheim as a choreographer despite his lack of experience in modern dance. In his previous work, he had dealt with such themes as homosexuality, Aids and parenthood. It was expected that he would combine film and theatre elements in a new presentation with the working title of Cucumber Salad.The documentary of the same name is a filmed history of ballet that never happened. After nearly 4 months of work and preparation, and only a few days before the premiere, Von Praunheim and Reflex broke off their collaboration.Cucumber Salad is a penetrating revelation of the confrontation between representatives from different artistic disciplines inside the turbulence world of Modern Dance.The program was covered by all Holland’s major dailies, using very positive words in their reviews. There were also several feature stories in some prominent broadcast magazines. The late evening documentary was seen by 190,000 viewers.