UTSUSEMI (Renaissance)

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Dance | Tanssi: Juju Alishina​​

 

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"Utsusemi," an ancient Japanese term meaning "Renaissance" or "the body in the present now," tells the tale of a Japanese woman journeying through past, present, and future. The performance starts with music evoking the curses, deceit, and glory of murderous warriors. The woman's body moves jerkily, reflecting her struggle. The scene transitions to modern Kyoto, with city sounds, conversations in izakayas, vendors selling roasted sweet potatoes, and advertisements in shopping centers. These sounds liberate the woman's movements. She then retreats to a mountain cave, witnessing a storm, war, and the death of a demon. A deformed butterfly, tainted by Fukushima's radiation, flutters with its wings spread. The woman's body moves fluidly, culminating in a hopeful vision of the future.

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Born in Kobe, Japan, Juju Alishina trained in traditional Japanese dance and Butoh. She began her professional career with the Byakkosha company in Kyoto in 1982. She founded NUBA in Tokyo, known for its distinctive ambiance while preserving Japan's and Asian dance's ancestral rituals. In 1998, Juju Alishina moved to Paris, where she continues her creative work and teaching.

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Since 2007, she has also been teaching in a university context in the United States. Her book, titled "Butoh Dance Training: Secrets of Japanese Dance Through the Alishina Method," has been published in three languages and is read worldwide. Over the last 40 years, she has given more than a thousand performances across Asia, Europe, and the United States and has taught Butoh in thousands of courses and workshops.

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