2nd international butoh- & related arts - symposium & dance exchange project

Ex... it! '99

idea &concept created by: delta RA'î

art direction: delta RA'i & Yumiko Yoshioka

production management: Mo Tunn


 
 
Artistic Concept Index

0. short project description

1. intention & targets

2. project idea & history

3. subject frame & reflection

4. realisation

4.1. work forum

4.2. workshop camp

4.3. symposium

4.4. staging & public presentation

4.5. related arts in context of the presentation

4.6. documentation

5. guest performance festival tour in co-operation with other partners

5.1. guest performance tour in Poland

5.2. guest performance festival in Berlin

6. time schedule and organisation
 
 

0. short project description

The project will content 6 parts

1. the work-forum:

1.1. exchange of experiences among the invited professional choreographers and dancers in training and mutual lessons

1.2. Collecting choreographic ideas to develop a dance performance on the entire area of schloss broellin (intended to be like "pictures at an exhibition")

2. the workshop camp: training lessons for interested artists and amateurs will run at the same time

3. the symposium: a scientific and philosophical reflection about the relevance of Butoh influence on European arts, especially on dance and theatre, is due to find a westernised term for the inner condition which in Japan is called "Butoh".

4. staging and presentation: the highlight for the public will be a spectacle with all participants, which is joined by live music, fine arts and video/ multimedia

5. documentation: a résumé consisting of interviews, photos and videos; edition of a catalogue

6. the guest performance festival: in Szczecin (PL) and Berlin; guest performances with parts of the project presentation performance or/and own works of the invited artists
 

1. intention & targets

The main intention of "Ex... it! 99" will be to explore the influence of the Japanese Butoh dance on the occidental art in general.

The artistic practical work forum will seek artists in whose works the spirit of Butoh or a similar intensity and authenticity can be sensed.

In this context it is important not only to look at the traditional "white Butoh" but more to reflect on new and parallel developments, and also other dance styles with an approach to Butoh. Western artists will be invited who in their work either directly refer to Butoh or are close to the "Butoh spirit". They will then meet young Japanese (Butoh) choreographers and dancers with whom they will exchange thoughts and ideas on their dance and together develop a final performance spectacle.

The theoretical scientific symposium on the one side will try to achieve a new definition of Butoh, because the term in its general meaning is occupied in a very old fashioned one-sided way. How can the expression of inner conditions, which in Japan is called "Butoh", be described for our western world?

On the other side there will be a denomination of the status quo of Butoh dance and its influence on music, fine and performing arts at the end of the 20th century and also its artistic relevance in society.

Therefore the practical work of the artists going on parallel will be a basis for discussions, reflections and appraisals.

The presentation weekend at the end of the project is intended to force a communication between working artists, professionals related to culture and art, trustees, event organisers and audience and so to function as a communication bridge between art, science and consumer.

The project with all its events will be comprehensively documented to show artistic and scientific reflections and results and also to provide a basis for further discussions.
 
 
 
 

2. project idea & history

Butoh - what does that mean? This is a question Æelta RA'i and Yumiko Yoshioka are confronted with since they founded tatoeba-THÈÂTRE DANSE GROTESQUE in 1987/88 as the first German-Japanese company. Since then they work on Butoh in Europe and develop this contemporary Japanese expression dance by their own European influenced dancing style. By numerous international guest performances or symposium projects they present the strange world of emotional images and the philosophical backgrounds of this avant-garde art to an interested public.

(Special information about Butoh in an additional leaflet.)

1999, the last year of the millennium is a memorable year for Butoh dance. 40 years ago, in May 1959, Tatsumi Huijikata with his legendary dance performance "Kinjiki" founded the Ankoku Butoh in Tokyo. 20 years ago, in 1979, the first performances of Japanese Butoh companies reached Europe via France. Then 10 years ago, in 1989, the first Butoh project "Rent-A-Body" in Ballhaus Naunynstrasse in Berlin managed to realise the collaboration of Japanese and European dancers in a joint performance.

During the first Butoh symposium and dance project Ex... it! '95, it turned out how effectively Butoh has influenced the European dance scene since middle of the eighties, respectively how Butoh was an expression of zeitgeist, where also similar looking dance styles developed parallel without ever having had contact to Butoh.

This first meeting, being meant as a first inventory of the European Butoh scene, encountered a run by a very interested public even in the rural areas of Germany.

"Ex... it! 95": 18 invited professional choreographers and dancers in two weeks developed with 40 workshop camp participants and 8 artists (music, sculpture/installation and multimedia) a dance spectacle and performed it successfully on the entire area of schloss broellin.

Parallel to the artistic work, a theoretical symposium was going on which culminated in the lectures of three theatre scientists and a final vehement discussion on the question "Butoh in Europe ? impulse for a renewal of our understanding of dance and theatre?"

Further information is available on a 55-min. video documentary and an info booklet, both in German and English.
 
 

3. artistic subject frame & theme of reflection

Ex... it! '99 deals with the EXIT as a symbol of changes in general and the EXIT from this millennium into the next in particular.

Ex... it! '99 as a request to reflect the "outside", the new, the uncertain with all its fears, doubts and irritations, which accompany us on the way to an unknown future.

Ex... it! '99 as a task to ask and answer artistically the "question 2000": the essential questions, which are rising at the doorstep to the 3rd millennium.

Ex... it! '99 as an artistic approach to a new way of thinking to overthrow the deep identity crises (of the "1st world") caused by a decadent prosperity and the mental weariness of a virtual almightiness in which we find ourselves at the end of the 2nd millennium. The super-rapid technical development of the 20th century for instance has led us to the surface of the moon but also on the verge of the abyss of a nuclear war... Yet the world-wide catastrophe has not happened but do we still have everything under control? When a new culture of togetherness is rising up, new values and developments of civilising substance in our society?

Ex... it! '99 works with the search for the ultimate kick of new Excitements, because we get increasingly bored of the "normal" completely protected life. We have already seen and even experienced quite everything in this last century, although mostly in form of information. As the body experience is missing, we are again and again looking for something Extreme to sense our living Existence. But where do these increasing powers of eccentric greed and vandalism lead to?

It is definitely something special for us as contemporary people that we are allowed to experience the new millennium. Each of us will handle that event differently, and still, we will all have to squeeze through this EXIT, this "door" in time.

Because every exit is also an entry, it depends on the consciousness how one sees oneself. To reflect on this point of view, on the millennium change and the "question 2000" is the frame subject of the project. It is task of every invited choreographer to reflect on this subject and to use the term of "ex..." (exaggerate it!, exchange it!, express it!, ex... it!) as basis of an artistic statement to create a dance sequence.
 
 

4. realisation

4.1. the work forum

The work forum is the practical artistic heart piece of the project. In an international convocation professional European and Japanese artists will be chosen who dance in the tradition of Butoh and have for themselves adapted Butoh individually, who adapted some influence of Butoh in their work or who developed a Butoh like style.

Through a public announcement and audition such choreographers and dancers (later on called the "work forum professionals") will be invited to schloss broellin. They will present their individual working methods to each other in the form of documentary material (video, photos, booklets etc.), a demonstration in form of a short performance and by the daily training that will be led by changing choreographers.

The first 5 days will be given to the purpose of getting to know each other by practical work.

The basic targets of the work forum will be the common exchange training to lay a basis for the workshop camp and the development of the dance and performance sequences for the presentation weekend at the end of the symposium.

The motto for the joint work of the invited artists will be "choreographers choreograph choreographers (and amateurs together)". They will work on dance sequences of about 10-20 min. which will be put together for the final presentation.

4.2. the workshop camp

During the 2nd week of the project there will be an offer for training lessons which take place parallel to the work forum. These lessons are open to approx. 20 ? 30 interested artists of all genres, especially for dancers and actors, but also for amateurs and Butoh beginners and can also be seen as further studies.

Planned is a daily joint training of 2 to 3 hours which will be led alternately by work forum professionals so that their working methods and interpretations of Butoh and Butoh like styles can be experienced by everybody.

The participants will immediately be able to use the new material under the guidance of the choreographers for the stage work and for the final performance.

4.3. the symposium

Parallel to the work-forum and the preparation of the final performance an international symposium will take place. In discussions, lectures and archive-shows there will take place a theoretical exchange of ideas on Butoh in general and a special reflection on the influence of Butoh on the performing arts in Europe in particular.

Discussions should come up about:

1. the history of Butoh in Japan and it's European roots

2. the European adaptation of this quite new Japanese form of artistic expression

3. the realisation in performances with European dancers and actors

4. the collaboration between Japanese and European Butoh artists

5. the parallel development of Butoh-like styles and expressions without direct Japanese influence (e.g. in the former Soviet Union or South America)

6. the achievement of a new European definition for the inner condition, which in Japan is called "Butoh"

7. the context with the zeitgeist

Especially the invited artists' different working methods on the preparation work of the performance sequences will be the basic for the symposium participants to reflect about how the artists work with the impulse of Butoh and how they develop their individual styles.

As a second step the symposium participants should try to achieve a new definition of Butoh, because the term in its general meaning is occupied in a very old fashioned one-sided way. How can the expression of inner conditions, which in Japan is called "Butoh", be described for our western world?

Another aim of the symposium is to give a denomination of the status quo of Butoh dance, an estimation and a valuation of the relevance of the influence of Butoh on the performing arts in Europe at the end of the 20th century. It should be worked by a theoretical view on the European dance and theatre scene as well as by the direct observation of the concrete results of the work forum and it's public presentation.

Trustees, event organisers, philosophers and artists will be invited, who are engaged in this subject. Further the work forum participants will be asked to get involved in the discussions and complete them with their experiences.

The symposium will be a public event, open to all interested people with the possibility to participate in the talks. In order to present the results to a broader public all the contributions will be documented and it is planned to print a small booklet.
 
 
 
 

4.4. final performance as public presentation

As working results of 15 days dealing with the different Butoh interpretations, a dance spectacle will take place in the evenings of the last weekend of the project. The entire area of schloss broellin offers an unusual and interesting scenery for artistic work because of the buildings' ancient structure, the attached park and the surrounding fields.

Groups, which came together by interest and solo artists with different contents, will develop the final performance and will perform on their chosen grounds on the area of schloss broellin.

In this context, neither showing a prepared personal production nor an outside choreography or a directed dance performance is at stake. The dance pieces are all choreographed and directed by the work forum professionals. The artist direction is limited to the overall staging that means arranging the single dance pieces and bringing them to an order in the public space.

This arrangement will be done as a play like "pictures at an exhibition" by delta RA'i and Yumiko Yoshioka. Performance guides will show the audience around the spectacle in small groups. In this context it is part of the concept that nobody can see everything on the same evening but only parts of the whole spectacle.

The performance starts at sunset on the outside fields and draws back to the inner area by nightfall where after several single performance-pieces there will be an expressive final picture created by all participants in the big hall. The performance will address local and widespread audiences, as international professionals and press will also be invited.
 
 

4.5. related arts in context of the presentation

The two-hour spectacle will be accompanied by live music, fine arts and video/ multimedia. Artists who are interested in the concept and are able to accordingly integrate their work will be invited for the second week to create the background for the dance pieces of the work forum.
 
 

5. guest performance tour and co-operation with other partner.

A meeting of so many international professional young choreographers demands the presentation of this artistic power to a broader public.

For that a guest performance tour is part of the project, either with parts of the final performance or own productions from the invited artists. This will be organised right after the symposium and final performance at schloss broellin. This intense co-operation with other event organisers and institutions in Germany and abroad will contribute to a stronger artistic exchange.

5.1. guest performance in Poland

In close co-operation with our partners in Poland a tour program will be planned for the end of August. The idea is to arrange guest performances where at each performance place own solo or group-performances of the invited artists will take place. Two or three artists/groups should introduce their work per evening.

There will be also the possibility to perform  in co-operation with our partners in Szczecin where we could present an adapted version of the final  performance of schloss broellin on one evening.

5.2. festival in Berlin

In Berlin there is planned a festival on one or two weekends (and maybe also the days in between) from the end of August on. The invited artists could show their own solo or group-performances or create an adaptation of the final performance of the project in close co-operation with the different performance places. Two or three artists/groups should introduce their work per evening.
 
 
 
 
 

6. time schedule and organisation
 

location: schloss broellin e.V. - international theatre research location

address: Schloss Broellin • D-17309 BRÖLLIN Nr. 3 • Germany • phone: +49--39747-50235 • fax: +49--39747-50302

e-mail: schloss.broellin@t-online.de
 

office/producer: Mo. Tunn & Sabine Kotulla

office in Berlin address:    schloss broellin in Berlin • c/o ACUD • Veteranenstr. 21 • D-10119 BERLIN • Germany

                                            phone+fax: +49--30--4405.5566 • e-mail: schloss@ broellin.in-berlin.de  &  exit.99@broellin.de

  schedule:
1. - 15. August 1999 at schloss bröllin

            work forum: 01. - 15. August 1999

            workshop camp: 06. - 15. August 1999

            symposium: 10. - 15. August 1999

            final presentation: 13. & 14. August 1999

18. —23. August 1999 tour to Szczecin (Poland/PL)

26. —29. August 1999 performances in Berlin (D)

 


producer: schloss bröllin e.V.

in collaboration with: tatoeba e.V.-THÉÂTRE DANSE GROTESQUE Berlin/Tokyo

supported by: Culture Ministry of the Federal State of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern

POMMERANIA German-Polish Cultural Society of the European Community
 
 

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