Motoya Kondo

“Vast empty space and innumerable splendour qualities”
When we encounter masterpiece ink-painting, Haiku poetry, Ikebana flower arrangement, Japanese theatre Noh, butoh, and so on, not only the objects, words, or dancers attract us but the vast sense of empty space. At the same time, there is vibrance in such empty space and innumerable different splendour qualities manifest lively. This is not only about local Japanese culture, but rather revealing of the universal reality of existence through art.
Our everyday life passes, eating, working, or dancing, within a limited cage, burying enormously rich nature within each of us. Education, traditions, or even learning dance could mould various forms of cages. But as we observe forests carefully under the sky, so many varieties of forms and qualities of plants, flowers, stones, winds… astonish us. This workshop is an invitation to explore and encounter the sky and the forest within our body-mind, discovering unlimited movements and textures within us, and transforming the personal journey into a universal poem.

* The workshop is addressed to both professional performers from any discipline as well as non professionals without any experiences, whoever is interested in the principles of body-mind-space that lies behind any kind of creations.

First two weeks: Basic trainings
Last two weeks: Creation of solo performances
Performance evenings January 29 and 30

Content:
① Whitening (Returning to a neutral body-mind)
– Body scanning
– Space expansion
– Stillness of space & movement
– Deconstructing the concept of time

② Basic movement principles
– Standing
– Walking
– Twisting
– Standing up and sinking down
– Creation of body parts (hands & arms, torso, feet & legs, face)
– Exploring external anatomy and movement principles
– Exploring contemplative anatomy and movement principles
– Connecting breath and movement

③ Metamorphosis (Discovering the unlimited diversity of the body-mind)
– Embodying textures of materials
– Embodying sounds
– Embodying images (paintings, video art, natural elements)

④ Creating a performance
– Inner process of building a performance
– Relationship with music, objects, and costumes
– Entering the space and disappearing from the space
– Trajectory in the space
– Structured improvisation

Images © Magdalena Halon