KAGIRI – Ujazdowski Castle Centre for Contemporary Art

KAGIRI, a performance by Atsushi Takenouchi, expresses the artist’s belief that dance is inextricably linked to life. According to Takenouchi, dance is an experience in which the emotions of the dancer and the audience combine, creating the fullness of the performance that cannot be expressed in words. The sounds created live by musician Hiroko Komiya, playing, among others, the zither and percussion instruments, contribute to the extraordinary aura of the performance. The word KAGIRI in the context of Takenouchi’s show means space. The performance had its premiere at the X Theater in Tokyo in April 2024.

• Atsushi Takenouchi
• (b. 1963) is an outstanding Japanese butoh dancer. In 1980, he joined the Hoppo-Butoh-ha group in Hokkaido. His last performance with this group in 1984, Takazashiki, was staged by Tatsumi Hijikata, the founder of butoh dance. In 1986, Takenouchi began his individual path of Jinen Butō. He created solo performances Itteki and Ginkan, combining a universal image of nature with an impression of the moment. In the years 1996–1999, as part of the JINEN project, he travelled around Japan, performing 600 dance improvisations during that time and studying with Kazuo Ohno, the co-founder of butoh dance. Since 2002, he has been based mainly in Europe, collaborating with dancers and actors from France, Poland, and the United States. He has performed at the Avignon Festival, the Paris Butoh Festival, and the New York Butoh Festival. In 2023-2024, he presented the performance Hana [Flowers], which premiered at the Theatre Institute in Warsaw in 2021, and the performance Hibi [Day by Day] in 2023. Takenouchi presented his performances at the Rozdroże Festival in Warsaw in 2002 and at the Manggha Museum of Japanese Art and Technology in Krakow. The book Atsushi Takenouchi Jinen Butō, was published in 2021 by Pompka Foundation with the support of the National Institute of Music and Dance.

• Hiroko Komiya
• is a musician who creates live music for Takenouchi’s performances, with whom she has been collaborating since 1999. She creates sounds using drums and bells, as well as stones, bamboo, shells, sand, and water. Since 1996, she has been learning to play traditional Indian percussion instruments with Masahiro Besso, a virtuoso on the tabla. She writes music for dancers and actors in Japan, France, and the United States. She also uses her voice in its natural form. Since 2002, she has been working on her voice with the singer, poet, and percussionist Jean C. Dussin, performing African, Celtic, and Inuit songs.
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