Istanbul Archives - Dancephere

May 24th – 25th, 2025 Zorlu Performing Arts Center, Istanbul
June 29th – July 5th, 2025 Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona
November 14th – 16th, 2025 LG Arts Center, Seoul
November 21st -22nd, 2025 Busan Cultural Center, Busan
March 29th, 2026 Steps Festival, Lugano
April 24th – 26th, 2026 Dansens Hus, Stockholm
Approx. 2 h 15 min (including 40 min interval)

A Joy Called Ekman

In Hammer, a harmonious community shares an altruistic lifestyle inspired by the hippie era. They run, play, sing and enjoy life together. But slowly, the community progresses towards the modern age with its ubiquitous surveillance. The group’s behaviour becomes increasingly egotistical and individualistic. When we return for the second act, we find ourselves in a different place. Now we meet a group of self-conscious people in lonely bubbles. Eventually, unable to cope with all the false pretences, they are forced to relinquish their image-conscious facades and return to an altruistic existence.

Multi-award-winning choreographer Alexander Ekman is bold, unpredictable and innovative, just like GöteborgsOperans Danskompani. His visually powerful work turns a spotlight on contemporary society’s self-image, often with a humorous twist. Ekman has created some 50 works, which have been performed by almost as many companies worldwide. Hammer, a full evening in two acts, is his third work for GöteborgsOperans Danskompani.

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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.’