October 24th – 25th, 2024 Zorlu PSM Turkcell Sahnesi, Istanbul
70 minutes
Tribute to Ushio Amagatsu
The legendary choreographer Ushio Amagatsu who introduced Europe to butoh nearly 45 years ago, has since championed this very special Japanese dance form and built a solid fan base worldwide. While he passed away this March, his much-celebrated company Sankai Juku will be making their Turkey debut at the festival with Utsushi.
Created at the special request of international festivals willing to present Sankai Juku in various features, Utsushi is composed of excerpts from the repertory of the company, reworked and restaged by Amagatsu in order to constitute a work of its own as the quintessence of his art from the last 45 years.
As Raimund Hoghe puts it: ‘Utsushi is much more than a compilation. Ushio Amagatsu creates a breath-taking dialogue between the beauty of his work and the beauty of nature, the sounds of nature and the composed music, the dance and the wind, the floor and the sky, the stars over our heads and the fire in front of us. With Utsushi, Amagatsu opens a new door – and we can see and feel the beauty of life.’