Ukiyo-e
Choreography: Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui Music: Szymon Brzóska and Alexandre Dai Castaing Stage design: Alexander Dodge Costume design: Yuima Nakazato Lighting: Dominique Drillot Dramaturgy: Igor Cardellini Created in 2022 Duration: 75 min
How can we survive together in a world where crises are becoming chronic? As our world repeatedly and hauntingly asks itself this question, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui was inspired by the Japanese term for ”images of the floating world”. This concept gave its name to an artistic movement that emerged in the Edo period and focused on capturing the present moment. This choreography of overcoming is set in the heart of a moving structure conceived in collaboration with the set designer Alexander Dodge, that takes the form of a network of impossible staircases in which the dancers lose their ways. These labyrinthine mobile structures function both as potential bridges and obstacles, and recall both the ascent and the abyss. It is in this sequence of degrees that bodies are called upon to unite, dialogue and contaminate each other. The performance is accompanied by Szymon Brzóska’s contemporary compositions for string trio and piano and Alexandre Dai Castaing’s rhythmic percussive and electronic creations. These sounds are punctuated by the vocal vibrations of the classical Arabic singer Mohamed El-Arabi Serghini. As they come together in Ukiyo-e, these worlds resonate with the piece’s quest for reparation and transcendence.
Press talks about it
”The ample movements of the dancers dressed in black seem to be like ink strokes, drawing moving figures in space, constantly fading and evolving. […] We also find in Ukiyo-e his power of the collective as well as this quest to tame weightlessness. The Japanese bridges are at first staircases from which one lets oneself fall, in total abandonment, caught at the bottom by one’s comrades. This letting go, so beautiful to see on stage, can only exist with absolute trust between the performers. » Amélie Bertrand, Danses avec la plume
In the repertoire

Keepin touch
For any question or request for information, the Delta Danse team will be happy to answer you!