Breaking new soil with butoh last week. I attended a one week workshop lead by Mako and Hikaro Inagawa at Tatwerk. It was an ambitious enterprise,
which worked in the end :)
Nine participants, singers, performers, a care giver and philologist, eagerly absorbed the japanese performance tools, and 4RUDE‘s approach. Trying hard to make faces like rotten cows, breaking branches, or repeating spider walk over and over. It gave us a good muscle hangover!
About two month ago I started taking butoh classes. Looking for a change in my body and different imagery to dance from. I am discovering this, but allready it’s a beautiful contrast to the airborne ballet. Not striving for the sky, but connecting with the soil, and giving topics around death for example a dancy form. Its also just fun, and maybe a return to expressionist dance.
The images we worked with are often short stories, so called Butoh-fu. A kind of vocabulary to generate creative mind states. From which than the physical expression comes. For example a room full of pollen, sneezing faces or a grave keeper calming a pack of barking dogs. Or a crayon, with a childish face, sort of asking what do I draw today?
All this to tell Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment. (Only part I, part II is following in November.)
In Hikaru’s work, there is seldomly one to one illustration of the narrative. This I already liked in their last piece CELLuLOID. Having a nice level of abstraction, and despite slow motion, an ongoing, dense concentration all the way through.
So, often there is stillness on the body surface, but internally we crossed the desert without water..
4RUDE – Crime and Punishment. Photo by Frances d’ Ath
4RUDE – Crime and Punishment. Photo by Frances d’ Ath
4RUDE – Crime and Punishment. Photo by Frances d’ Ath
4RUDE – Crime and Punishment. Photo by Frances d’ Ath
4RUDE – Crime and Punishment. Photo by Frances d’ Ath
4RUDE – Crime and Punishment. Photo by Frances d’ Ath
4RUDE – Crime and Punishment. Photo by Frances d’ Ath
4RUDE – Crime and Punishment. Photo by Frances d’ Ath
The second round of staging shibari workshop went a step further. Mainly I was interested in working with white face colour, somewhat butoh inspired, and trying new technical equipment. We now have a little studio with light control and black backdrop.
The group was smaller, 6 people, mostly new to shibari, some bold some shy, but in general calm, concentrated vibes were coming from the table scene.
“How does Flying work on stage?” somebody from Hau asked me sometime in January. A couple of hints forth and back, and I suggested these guys for professional flying machinery.
“Let me know if you need help with moving in the air!”
Rita Stelling, who in the solo installation performed Heraklis II, was super cool to work with. We immediately connected and had much fun throwing together ideas on how to treat the abstract landscape made of cubes, amorphic object and dangerous triangles created by Alexej Tcherni. The whole theatre machinery was involved. Iron curtain, revolving stage, fog, projection and life music and much more.
An overload of information in only 30 minutes, but put together in such a fine, condensed way, that each picture kept something poignant and simple. Mostly it was the tension between the whole staging and Rita as performer which made it strong on all sensory levels, I think. Visually, but also as text – image and sound installation.
All in all, a fortunate spontaneous collaboration. Here some rehearsal and performance moments.
The workshop, a fun experiment on 30 square meters. Ballhaus Ost borrowed lights, Uferstudios a dimmer, I threw costumes ropes and make up in. Us 10 people figured our roles for the evening as light performance-, camera-, fog- person, singer or audience. Squeezing through my tiny dojo in Uferhallen, which currently looks more like a suspension point forrest.
We started by talking and gathering ideas, I assigned tasks to the riggers and models, we had to find a group timing, and everyone went to find small stories with their partner.
It was exciting and tricky to handle light without distance to the scene. More fog! I was hectically torn between photographing, arranging and watching, and super happy to have such great technicians in the group shibari- and stagewise.
Some hidden talents! :) There was precise as well as messy tying going on.
Within our 30 minutes sequence there were moments when things came together, when stillness took place between the three hanging bodies, and Micha started singing. Here some moments..
OMG, when it comes to ballet I am such a groupie! In the last two weeks went to see the Staatsballett Berlin twice. To see Polina Semionova dance Swan Lake and Giselle. She is utterly stunning. Every step is carefully, thoughtfully placed, and her person seems to vanish into the character she dances. Her presence and oneness with the role, especially as ephemeral being or ‘Elementargeist’.
Sometimes I would like her to perform a little more edgy, as black swan or in Giselle’s mad scene. But maybe that comes with more time, and well, thats also a lack in ballet education!
The Swan Lake evening was a double highlight, it was also Beatrice Knop’s farewell, after being a ballerina with the company for a quarter century — what an immense effort!
It was touching, she took of her point shoes during the applause, and left them at the edge of the stage, mountains of flowers for the queen mother, her role that night.
Usually I wouldn’t bother too much, but this brought up memories. After the show I had her biography autographed by her, and when it was my turn I congratulated saying:
‘Hi, do you remember, a long time ago I was a little apprentice in the Staatsballett and we shared a dressing room.’
‘She looked up saying ‘Yea, I very well remember your face, good luck!’. ‘For you too!’ It was nice moment and reconciling with the old times ;)
Polina Semionova – Swan Lake Staatsballett Berlin
Polina – Swan Lake Staatsballett Berlin
Beatrice Knop – Farewell Staatsballett Berlin 2016
17th February, Wednesday
Costs: 40 Euro per person (social price 30 Euro)
At Teatris/Alte Kantine or in our ‘Mini- Dojo’. Both locations are at
Uferhallen Kulturwerkstatt in Wedding. Staircase b/c, Uferstraße 8-11, 13357 Berlin
U8 Pankstr/U9 Osloerstr
Please call when you are in the court yard, in case you don’t find it, or the door is locked:
+ 49 174 393 70 49.
PLEASE REGISTER BEFOREHAND, THAN WE SEND YOU THE DETAILS!
NEWS: Please know that costs have has changed to 40 Euro per person, thank you!
Roughly the schedule will be this:
19 – 20 h yoga warm up
20 – 20.30 pause
20.30 – 22 shibari/technical input
22- 23 h open space to play and exchange ideas or just watching.
2. Staging Shibari
23rd February, Tuesday
7-11 pm
Costs: 40 Euro per person (social price 30 Euro)
At Teatris/Alte Kantine or in our ‘Mini- Dojo’. Both locations are at
Uferhallen Kulturwerkstatt in Wedding. Staircase b/c, Uferstraße 8-11, 13357 Berlin
U8 Pankstr/U9 Osloerstr
Please call when you are in the court yard, in case you don’t find it, or the door is locked:
+ 49 174 393 70 49.
PLEASE REGISTER BEFOREHAND, THAN WE SEND YOU THE DETAILS.
Our performance baby ‘Shibari Express’ is growing, and we want to focus more on performance ideas as part of the workshop, than on basic rope technique. So previous knowledge is useful but not mandatory. If you prefer to watch, we will always need free hands to hold a light, fog machine or navigate a camera…
We want to invite you to brainstorm with us, ideas or dramaturgy and how to try those on a small scale. You could also bring an instrument, books or other devices, which you always have wanted to tie up or perform with.
The scenes that we create explore theatre tools and can be happening-like, installational or movement based/choreographies. Its an experiment to involve poetic thoughts around rope work, and to have an open space situation to try Shibari for the stage. There will always be someone of our team, or other free floating participants to support you, unless you want to make a solo :)
Sounds all more challenging than it is..its about searching new forms and having fun!
Just coming back from Warsaw. I was coaching Japanese rope bondage to actors from Nowy Teatr.
After a short introduction what traditional Shibari and my approach is, we got six actors into experimenting wildly with ropes and found funky ideas combining them with the text from ‘Ghost Sonata’.
Written by Swedish playwright August Strindberg’s in 1907. At that time he was inspired by Beethovens Piano Sonata ‘Ghost Trio’, and wrote this somewhat spooky chamber play, dealing with mummies and social eval, invented from some hidden place of his mind.. Perfect for Markus and perfect for ropes I think.
The group was awesome Normally I don’t suspend people who are totally new to ropes, but the energy was solid and there were two stuntmen in the room. One even a former Starwars stuntmen! :)
A special third advent. With Silke, our first show, in Markus Öhrns ‘Adventskalender – Wir sind die Guten‘ on the small stage of Volkbühne. Markus proposed to honour Saint Lucia with a Shibari ritual. Only than I learned about the female martyr of Syracuse, who was executed around 300 AD. She had denied to get maried, and there are many stories around her. The most known one is, that her eyes were gouged when she was tortured, so in one way or the other I thought it was perfect. She is also associated with light rituals and is the patrone of the the blind.
Already rehearsals were interesting. The third floor of Volkbüne is not easily accesible, but no problem for us!
The first time we took the front entrance, crossing the main stage, Pollesch was rehearsing, taking the goods lift with dance bikes and Jack. After we decided for the stairs and waited for the dramaturgic assistant to come by to give Silke a lift. She is so cool with these things! Thank you Tim :)
We quickly figured that a dress needs to be made. The costume stuff was super helpful. I got the white one from the rail and Silke had a couple fittings, so in the end we both got the same Lucia look, like the Swedish choral girls.
Another day of rehearsals in my space. Nothing worked, ropes were pinching and sliding all over the place, just not where they are supposed to sit. Padding didn’t work..a perfect sort of general.
On the Sunday Markus and the team were so there for us! Fixing suspension points in theatre becomes more easy, he took care of everything, especially since there was another Bondage performance in the calender, so hanging was bomb proof safe.
And like always, preparation takes more time than performing, Silke took care of my make up (I love how we can be girlish together :) and I check the hardware. Two sun salutes to tune into my body, sit ups, back warm up. Relevés and a little stretch so I don’t injure..(I did a light barre befor just to mentally complete my ritual). Two interns helped with last minute needs biscuits and tea, everything was sweetly wonderful.
But what was the performance about? I guess with the rope work it’s always about the process. Silke and I have been working together for one and a half years now. We met at Impulstanz Festival in Vienna in 2014, where she participated in our Yoga/Shibari workshop. It was mind blowing for us to have her doing the five day workshop. We were constantly looking for new solutions to alter the traditional technique and make it fit for her body. The same with Yoga. The first day she came in on her dance bike, with Jack, her assistant dog, and asked if she could take part. Of course! It was not just easy, since some of the dancers avoided partnering with Silke, so often Frances or Florian worked with her and they made beautifully odd couples.
On day three she found herself suspended in the air. And for ‘Impressions’, the public workshop try outs performances, we sort of performed together, even with Jack who got tied up ;).
Ismael Ivo commented, “I didn’t even know these things were happening in his festival..”.
Guido Reimitz introduced us again and suggested we should work together and he will support us whenever he can.
