GOLD AND POWDER / SUMAKO KOSEKI (JAP/FR)

PREMIERE!
performance length: 60 min
butoh dance
no language barrier
Dance and choreography: Sumako Koseki
produced by: Kateřina Bilejová
“As far as butoh is concerned, there has been a lot of misunderstanding – it is often thought of as a dance of ghosts, something terrifying and so on. But butoh is about the search for light in the darkness, the point is you can see light more intensively in the darkness. And this is the reason for the creation of the performance Gold and Powder.“

The dancer is divided into gold and powder. Gold is the image of powerful longing mixed with cynical image of aristocracy, power and richness. She even pretends the mythic characters, symbolized by gold materials.

We see the dancer’s desire for the beauty of mythic characters, symbolized by gold materials. The dance of the gold woman is interrupted by a fine powder, floating down like snow, like falling blossoms. The body of the dancer gradually disintegrates. The beautiful gold cosmos gradually vanishes in the mist and transforms into thousands of bits of powder or dust. Has something important been lost? Or has a new kind of light been gained? Sumako dances on in this world of powder, portraying another layer (the most remarkable quality?) of butoh dance.

The performance is loosely based on the work of Japanese Buddhist poet Kenji Miyazawa. The Czech premiere performance of this work will take place at the Alfred following a four day intensive workshop led by Sumako Koseki from the 14th to the 17th of February at Slavoj Holešovice. Reservation at bilejovak@jinonice.cuni.cz.

More info here.

Sumako Koseki’s artistic formation began in Japan under the leadership of great masters of kabuki and butoh. Her artistic path started in 1977 at the festival in Nancy in France. Since then, while working with Grotowski, Adrien and to her artists she developed her own style of butoh dance, which connects exact dramaturgical structure and work with the unconscious. She has performed her works Mad-âme and E puits…et puis? at the Alfred ve dvoře Theatre.

Photo: Aňa Šebelková Photo: Aňa Šebelková Photo: Aňa Šebelková