TO-EN Butoh Company: Desert Rose

TO-EN Butoh Company

Desert Rose / desire, sweetness, temptation

22 May 2016, 18:30, Podlasie Opera and Philharmonic, Odeska str. 1, tickets 15 / 25 zł

Meeting with authors after the spectacle hosted by Jadwiga Majewska

The spectacle for adults only. Attention! In the spectacle high-volume sound is used.

Concept, choreography and dance: TO-EN
Light design: Przemysław Kalemba
Costumes: Pani Ella, Maciej Głowacki
Video: Agencja Vizualna
Sound: Krzysztof Pajka, Taavi Tulev (Estonia), Timo Viialainen (Finland)

Desert Rose is a spectacle about longing for lure and temptation to seduce. Created in a symbolic language of butoh dance, the piece touches the notions of electrifying sweetness – uninhibited and tempting, existing only because of its charm.

Performance Desert Rose was inspired by apparently distant images – a specific kind of plant called Desert Rose and a phenomenon of glamour. The flowers are of bewildering beauty. They allure with their juicy colour, however in the naked desert landscape they seem to exist only for themselves and only for a while. Swollen with poisonous juice, they attract the sight; they are unreal and wild.

This image merges symbolically with something oversaturated, illusive, sickly sweet, pink and cheaply alluring. It expands and pulsates. It boldly interweaves with sensuality and infantilism – an overdrawn desire for enchantment and glamour.

TO – EN is a butoh dancer. Her artistic career started in Sweden in a butoh dance group SU-EN Butoh Company. In 2009 in Stockholm, TO-EN had a solo premiere with White, which was also the birth of TO-EN Butoh Company. TO-EN in Japanese means Earth-Garden and is the dancer’s stage name. Currently, the artist is working in Poland. She produces spectacles, multidisciplinary projects, site-specific events, improvisations; she organizes workshops and lectures.
www.toenbutoh.co

Butoh – dance that originated in Japan in the late 50’s. The precursor of the genre was the charismatic dancer and choreographer Tatsumi Hijikata, who revolutionized the approach to art and means of artistic expression. Hijikata’s dance hit the refined aesthetics which dominated on the stages of Japan. This revolutionary and exceeding the limits dance introduced a new look at the body on stage. In Europe, butoh still surprises with an unusual style, creating new conditions for artistic exchange, as well as consolidating its position in contemporary stage art.

Krzysztof Pajka – musician, craftsman, man of many talents. Participant of musical action PEPSI FAZA- the winner in the category for best musical composition. Acted within the Sopot Off de BICZ Stage as an author and performer of live music performances. He participated in POLYPHONY project (book, music and film) and in many other happening concerts and musical actions. Since 2010 he has been collaborating with the TO-EN Butoh Company.

Przemysław Kalemba – longtime lighting technician at Teatr Wybrzeże. He collaborates with BOTO Theatre Foundation, as well as with the Group Profit. He produces  light designs for Polish music scene.