Kara-da-Kara

Young Japanese choreographer Azusa Takeuchi echoes Martha Graham’s words that “the body never lies and the more time goes by, the more traces become visible” to present “a piece on the body’s existence”, questioning the foundation of certain philosophies that distinguish the body from the soul. To address the soul and summon ghosts, she has crept into the light installation by the visual artist Nicolas Villenave (The song of filament) consisting of 81 bulbs that create waves around her flexible, deliberately contorted body. In a moving space featuring a sky of stars or a sea of fireflies, the installation produces a rhythm in tune with the dancer’s movements, which live musician Shinjiro Yamaguchi strives to recompose with great finesse.
With the meanings of the words “kara” (void), “karada” (body) and “dakara” (because), Azusa Takeuchi provides the keys to a performance in the form of meditation, extreme care and attention, and infinite poetry rooted in Japanese culture.