"The City in the Piano" is a duo series conceived as a processual encounter
between the Berlin dancer and choreographer Yui Kawaguchi and the jazz
pianist and composer Aki Takase. Their collaboration is inspired by the shared
experience of Japanese roots and the assimilation and appropriation of a new
culture in a big German city. With "The City in the Piano", however, the
internationally renowned artists lift the theme out of the concrete example and
place it in a creative, utopian dialogue. Expressive variations on the relationships
between urbanity, sound and movement are created. Diversely influenced by
Asian as well as European, classical as well as contemporary forms of expression,
both of them demand the flexibility of the languages of dance and music and
push them into unexpected dimensions. "Two cross-border commuters on a joint journey, on the way between the most different cultures and arts..." (Berliner Zeitung) .
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Inspired by Takase's collaboration with Alexander Schlippenbach on 20 musical
city collages, the first duo with composer/pianist and choreographer/dancer was
created in 2008: "The City in the Piano I - Canon". Continuing with "Forte" in the
same year, then "Tarantella" in 2009, "Chaconne" in 2011 and "Cadenza" in
2013, the sixth episode of "The City in the Piano - Accento", will have its world
premiere on 16 December 2022 in the Kuppelhalle of the silent green
Kulturquartier. Each episode of the series is thus based on its own musical form.
In music, "Accento" means "to set an accent" and thus refers to the focus of the
new episode. If accents change, e.g. due to radical events, people experience a
change in the usual verbal and non-verbal dialogue and in the rhythm of
encounters in public spaces. Adaptation is required, learning new things,
planning and improvising to manage in everyday life.
In "The City in the Piano VI - Accento", the pianist and the dancer, each with
their own forms of expression, take up various elements as "accents" that make
urban life more dynamic or more uncomfortable. They leap over boundaries and
unfold an impulsive, humorous and at the same time poetic dialogue.
What is the rhythm that drives us to the wall? Where are our heads stuck right
now? How do we manage to jump out of the situation?
But the city is even more than sound and movement, it is always also space. Narrow, wide, high, intricate
space. For " The City in the Piano VI - Accento", Berlin artist Gabi Schillig explores the parallels between the
structural elements of the piano and the city. She has designed a stage set and performative objects that
set architectural accents in interaction with the body, piano and space. Also important is the venue, the
octagonal domed hall of silent green in Berlin-Wedding, a flexible, open space that allows a dynamic
interplay between installation and musical-dance performance. In the midst of the action, the audience
experiences the various immersive dimensions of the city, constantly transforming like a living organism.
| concept, choreography, dance | Yui Kawaguchi |
| concept, composition, piano | Aki Takase ▶ |
| stage objects, performative architecture | Gabi Schillig ▶ |
| light, technic | Fabian Bleisch ▶ |
| assistant | Ayko Bleisch |
| production | Rosi Ulrich |
| PR & publication | k3 berlin |
PREMIERE in Berlin
Fri. 16th December 20:00 Tickets▶
Sat. 17th December 20:00 Tickets▶
Sun. 18th December 18:00 Tickets▶
Kuppelhalle silent green Berlin
Gerichtstraße 35, 13347 Berlin | Tickets: 22€ / erm. 18€
A production by Yui Kawaguch | MENDORA. Supported by the Fonds Darstellende Künste with funds from the
Federal Government for Culture and Media within the framework of NEUSTART KULTUR.
Photos: Georg Tuskany, Casanova Sorolla | Graphics: Gabi Schillig, Yui Kawaguchi
