Yui Kawaguchi – Between the worlds

At the age of six, Yui Kawaguchi saw "Giselle" and was so moved that she wanted to become a ballerina herself. In her native Japan, this meant a balancing act between cultures. Today, the dancer lives in Berlin and knows how to overcome borders. Stuttgart - "I heard the music of Johann Sebastian Bach differently here than in Japan," says Yui Kawaguchi. All of Bach's sounds find a place in this landscape, the Japanese dancer and choreographer draws a picture. She has also "danced" music by Mozart and Handel, experiencing Handel "like pop music." "Bach's music, on the other hand, I feel is sacred, but unlike in Japan, his music is not untouchable here," says Yui Kawaguchi. Enthusiastic spectators experienced how touchable even "The Well-Tempered Clavier" is, a collection of fugues and preludes, at the breakdance show "Flying Bach" in Ludwigsburg and Stuttgart. Yui Kawaguchi, a trained classical dancer, took on the part of the classical dancer at the show in Ludwigsburg - very strict, very beautiful. Also in "Cantatatanz" - churches always serve as performance venues - Johann Sebastian Bach shows himself touchable in an impressive way; his music is joined by countertenor Terry Wey, instrumentalists and the dancer Yui Kawaguchi to a staged chamber concert. The production of Nico and the Navigators was created with the Berlin cultural center Radialsystem. The Tokyo-born dancer has lived in Berlin since she made a guest appearance at the Tacheles Cultural Center in 2001 with the production "cell166 b." Dance in Japan and in Germany: These are two different worlds "At first, I felt like a stranger on stage here," the dancer recalls. She thought the audience in Germany didn't understand her. Dance in Japan and Germany, those are two worlds. In the meantime, the Japanese dancer, who was awarded the Cologne Dance Theater Prize in 2010, is not only at home on Germany's stage. She has made guest appearances in America, Canada, Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Luxembourg, Austria and regularly in Japan. One of her choreographies was shown in Korea. Yui Kawaguchi has worked with Ismael Ivo, Helena Waldmann, Tomi Paasonen, Nir de Volff and toured the world with the Flying Steps. In 2011, the ensemble received the Echo-Klassik special prize for its production of "Red Bull Flying Bach." At the age of six, Yui Kawaguchi saw the ballet "Giselle" in Japan. The title role was danced by Yoko Morishita alongside Rudolf Nureyev. Yui was touched. "I could understand that body language, it was phenomenal, and I thought, if this is ballet, I want to do ballet." What she soon experienced was the gap between European culture and Japanese everyday life. "We lived very Japanese at home, sleeping on futons and eating on low tables on the floor," she says. Movements tended to be vertical, but in ballet class they went horizontal. "I couldn't reconcile my desire to dance with everyday life; it was confusing for me," Yui Kawaguchi says. But even then, two poles dominated Japan: traditional forms like no-theater and pop culture. "When I was 12, 13, I needed something else to dance, I started hip-hop and learned to choreograph for groups as well," the dancer says. Between jazz and expressive dance Those who experience her today notice her diversity of styles. For example, in the series "City in Piano," which she staged together with jazz pianist Aki Takase. These are utopian cities that the artists develop in a dialogue between dance and music. Sometimes under the title "Cadenza", sometimes as "Chaconne" (with visual artist Kazue Taguchi). With "Cadenza - The City in Piano V," Kawaguchi and Takase made a guest appearance this year at the Jazztage in Stuttgart's Theaterhaus. "Aki can give me landscapes with her sounds, which is a luxury for a dancer," says Yui Kawaguchi, who will now be seen in a solo at the Karlsruhe Dance Festival. "Match-Atria" is the name of the production, which also involves Japanese filmmaker Yoshimasa Ishibashi and 3-D specialist Masahiro Teraoka. The viewer wears headphones and 3-D glasses and holds an artificial heart made of plasticine in his hand - the heart of the dancer. As Kawaguchi dances, her heart pulsates in the hands of the audience. A 3-D image shows: she is dancing in the middle of her heart, in a landscape with a stream of hemoglobin. "This is where I found my self" Japanese Rieko Suzuki came up with the idea for this tangible theater. "What we do in 'Match-Atria' is typically Japanese," says Yui Kawaguchi. Technology is presented organically; the line between nature and technology is blurred. "I think it has something to do with our religion, Shintoism," smiles Yui Kawaguchi. She hasn't experienced the contrasts between Japan and Europe as strongly for several years. "My Japanese family says I dance differently than before, my movements have become softer, more continuous," says Yui Kawaguchi. Adding, "Here I have found my self, in my life there is no more deciding, I decide."

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