BUTOH-TANZ Forms of emptiness – Fluktuationen und Resonanzen im Zustand von kuu

In the organizer's words:

A performance with Biyo Kikuchi, Butoh dance, and Lothar Berger, voice

so minimalism and the idea that emptiness is filled with potential.

Biyo's dance works on the edge of movement, inspired by the "feeling of wavering between self and other, fact and fiction, truth and lie". A response to the confusing surface of reality that has repeatedly surfaced since the Covid-19 pandemic.

"In a situation that seems to be held down and broken open again by an ever-changing surface, I want to explore and face the unseen depths, uncertain, and also explore the interplay of the life force pulsing from the cracked sky. Not just as sadness or joy, but as essential to the body, to being itself, I explore the feeling of becoming one with the sky-kuu (空): Emptiness... but not empty - a space where perhaps our inner power lives," says Biyo, who uses Japanese washi paper in her movement.

In her performance in Cologne, Biyo Kikuchi will be accompanied by the Cologne overtone singer and vocal artist Lothar Berger.

Biyo Kikuchi is a dancer/choreographer who studied Butoh with Yoshito and Kazuo Ohno. In addition, she learned many forms of physical expression and explored gestures, actions, movements and body expression in different spaces, contexts and situations. Her solo works include: "Pan-barabara", "New Moon", "End of the Day", "Form for the future", "kuu-no-ne" (Japan Performing Arts Critics Association Award). In addition to her own groups and productions, she works with Kim Itoh, Natsu Nakajima, Kazuo and Yoshito Ohono. She performed a solo dance showcase at Min Tanaka's Dance Hakushu Festival for three years. She also collaborates with artists and musicians on improvisational performances, works with communities and holds workshops on bodywork and improvisation.