Unbearable Darkness
By Choy Ka Fai
Unbearable Darkness is a project that speaks to and speculates on Tatsumi Hijikata, the legendary founder of the Butoh dance movement in Japan in the 1960s. Throughout this project, how memory and immateriality transmit into worlds of desire, belonging, and representation has been questioned. Among them, a choreographic question is put forth in Unbearable Darkness: How does a ghost choreograph? Are there any technological possibilities to dance with Hijikata again?
In parts a film travelogue, a cybernetic Butoh-dance experiment, and a paranormal encounter, Unbearable Darkness was first created in 2018 as a theatrical dance performance. The performance was created with a 3-year research process into the histories of Japanese Butoh dance and the cultural conditions of Japanese shamanism.
UnBearable Darkness premiered at tanzhaus nrw Düsseldorf in 2018 and has since toured to Kyoto Experiment, Taipei Arts Festival, Liveworks Festival Sydney, and Impulstanz Vienna.
Concept, Design and Direction: Choy Ka Fai/ Choreographic Presence and Paranormal Performance: Spirit of Tatsumi Hijikata/ Dramaturgy: Tang Fu Kuen/ Dance Engineering, Motion Capture and Performance: Neji Pijin/ Research, Voice and Performance: Tomoko Inoue/ Visual Design and Technology: Brandon Tay/ Music: Raffael Seyfried/ Costumes: Rie Usui/ Lighting Design and Technical Direction: Ray Tseng/ Tour Manager: Tammo Walter / Company Manager: Mara Nedelcu
UnBearable Darkness is a production of Choy Ka Fai, co-produced by Kyoto Experiment and tanzhaus nrw as part of MOCCA – Motion Capturing Creative Area, a project of Hochschule Düsseldorf, LAVAlabs, Velamed GmbH
The Performance is Supported by Kunststiftung NRW by NATIONALE PERFORMANCE NETZ Koproduktionsförderung Tanz, supported by Beauftragten der Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien and The Saison Foundation. The research was supported by TPAM – Performing Arts Meeting in Yokohama, The Saison Foundation, The Japan Foundation Asia Center and Hijikata Tatsumi Archive at Keio University Art Center.
In parts a film travelogue, a cybernetic Butoh-dance experiment, and a paranormal encounter, Unbearable Darkness was first created in 2018 as a theatrical dance performance. The performance was created with a 3-year research process into the histories of Japanese Butoh dance and the cultural conditions of Japanese shamanism.
UnBearable Darkness premiered at tanzhaus nrw Düsseldorf in 2018 and has since toured to Kyoto Experiment, Taipei Arts Festival, Liveworks Festival Sydney, and Impulstanz Vienna.
Concept, Design and Direction: Choy Ka Fai/ Choreographic Presence and Paranormal Performance: Spirit of Tatsumi Hijikata/ Dramaturgy: Tang Fu Kuen/ Dance Engineering, Motion Capture and Performance: Neji Pijin/ Research, Voice and Performance: Tomoko Inoue/ Visual Design and Technology: Brandon Tay/ Music: Raffael Seyfried/ Costumes: Rie Usui/ Lighting Design and Technical Direction: Ray Tseng/ Tour Manager: Tammo Walter / Company Manager: Mara Nedelcu
UnBearable Darkness is a production of Choy Ka Fai, co-produced by Kyoto Experiment and tanzhaus nrw as part of MOCCA – Motion Capturing Creative Area, a project of Hochschule Düsseldorf, LAVAlabs, Velamed GmbH
The Performance is Supported by Kunststiftung NRW by NATIONALE PERFORMANCE NETZ Koproduktionsförderung Tanz, supported by Beauftragten der Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien and The Saison Foundation. The research was supported by TPAM – Performing Arts Meeting in Yokohama, The Saison Foundation, The Japan Foundation Asia Center and Hijikata Tatsumi Archive at Keio University Art Center.