The Schinkiro

In Japan and North America, Akira Kasai enjoys cult status as a choreographer and dancer. His latest work examines the way body concepts are tied to cultural traditions and uses choreography to stage a confrontation with various body concepts. Kasai presents this experiment with eight dancers (all of whom live in Berlin) from three different continents, and also performs in this work himself.

Shinkiro means illusion: “Dance, with its capacity to intensify, is like a mirage on the wide expanses,” says Kasai. “Human beings have two bodies: an external, visible one, and an inner, invisitlbe one that you only experience through your imagination. For a dancer, both bodies are genuine living realities. It is the task of the dancer to bring the imagination - the inner body - into contact with the external one.” In his radical work with Butoh, Akira Kasai has provided powerful stimulus to Japanese and Western dance.“

Choreography: Akira Kasai

Dance: Todd Ford, Apolo Franca, Corinna Kniffki, Bülent Musdu, Felicitas Ritter, Edsel Scott, Niloufar Shahisavandi, Daniel Yamada

Music by: Lutz Glandien

Dramaturgy: Björn Dirk Schlüter