KUUKI [Air]
Interactive dance performance for children from 0 to 18 months |
JIENKYO - Japan Union of Theatre Companies for Children and Young People and Morawska-Rubczak/Małecka (Tokyo, Japan and Poznań, Poland) |
Dynamic, light, airy, difficult to grasp - Kuuki - 空 気 the Japanese word for air - is a quest for energy. Can the wind be touched? How does the air smell? How do we breathe? Each and every one of us are dealing with air everyday and yet it enchants us with the promise to rise and fly.
The dancers and instrumentalists take the audience on a search for the materiality of the air and invite them to touch, feel and listen. Within a sensual and safe space, artists, children and adults search for shared experiences and inspire each other through light movements, sounds and images.
KUUKI is a Japanese-Polish production for which JIENKYO invited the creative duo Barbara Małecka (scenographer) and Alicja Morawska-Rubczak (director). The two Polish theatre-makers are pioneers of theater for the youngest in Poland and beyond. Together with the award-winning Japanese accordionist Kanako Kato and the Polish multi-instrumentalist Jakub Drzastwa, who accompanies the piece instrumentally in the Polish version, they embark on a poetic journey into airy worlds.
JIENKYO was founded in 1975. The union now has 64 members, professional companies working in various genres for children and young audiences. Since its start, JIENKYO has worked with teachers to develop »theatre in education« style at school, and also with parents.
(ASSITEJ Japan)
Premiere: 2017 (Tokio, Japan)
Stage Direction: Alicja Morawska-Rubczak
Set design and costumes: Barbara Małecka
Music: Kanako Kato / Jakub Drzastwa
Dance: Maho Harada / Magda Wolnicka, Noriko Matshuda / Monika Kiwak
Producer: Akira Ota / JIENKYO
Duration: 45 minutes
Cooproduced by Art Fraction Foundation, Poland.