02.11.2017 / TWO

A Piece by Yumiko Yoshioka and Minako Seki.

The duet “Tea for Two” follows the traces of the historical development of the Butoh dance in Germany.

In 1974 Yoshioka joined the japanese butoh group Ariadone and in 1978 she traveled with the group to the first European Butoh performance called “Le Dernier Eden”, in Paris. Ten years later, she came back independently to Europe and, together with Minako Seki and delta RA’i, founded the first German-Japanese butoh group Tatoeba – Théâtre Danse Grotesque – in Berlin. Some years later the members of the group split, but both, Yumiko Yoshioka and Minako Seki, continued their project and developed their own, very individual performance aesthetics, that can be identified with the neo and post-butoh practice.
The new piece “Tea for Two” is originated from the initiative of the theater director Wolfgang Piontek from the Eis Fabrik Theater in Hannover, who wanted to connect the two dancers again. His idea was to bring them into a conversation and put the individual developments of so many years of butoh dance practice in contrast.

In their creative research, they will work on ideas like body memory, transformation or aging.

Furthermore, they want to analyze their personal relationship, their attachment to their cultural origin and the experience as long career dancers.

On this process, they will re-enact old pieces such as  “June hitoe”, “All Moonshine” or “Tea for Three”, that they were playing 20 years ago within Tatobea group.

Produced by COMMEDIA FUTURA /Eis Fabrik Theater in Hannover, Germany