In exploring the remnants of dance beyond the performance, the collaborative project "Kono atari no dokoka" (Somewhere around here) navigates the artistic relationships of Japanese-Austrian performance-maker Michikazu Matsune, French choreographer Martine Pisani, and Dutch painter-performer Theo Kooijman. Focusing on their activities from the 1980s and 1990s, this venture examines the interplay between archives, personal memories, shared anecdotes, and imaginations.
Martine Pisani's poetic and humor-infused body of work, initiated in the mid-1980s, intertwines movements, words, and performative acts. Michikazu Matsune, blending documentarist and conceptualist approaches, collaborates on this project, recording the trio's shared history. Theo Kooijman, Pisani's real-life partner and longtime performer, reimagines her early works for the project.
The fictional setting of "Kono atari no dokoka" introduces Pisani's work to Japan for the first time, inviting reflection on local and global contexts, persisting gaps, and universalities between continents, generations, and individuals. The performance weaves together anecdotes from the trio: Pisani's encounters with choreographer Odile Duboc, Kooijman's arrival in Paris and fascination with tango, and Matsune's youth in Kobe and subsequent move to Europe. Pisani's life took a dramatic turn during this period due to an illness, adding another layer to the collective memory.
From Kobe to Marseille, Paris to Vienna, the performance constructs a composite present from personal stories, blending simplicity, poetry, humor, and tenderness. "Kono atari no dokoka" becomes a journey through time and space, revealing a shared history that lingers in the gaps between continents, generations, and personal narratives.
English & Dutch subtitles
Concept - Michikazu Matsune in dialogue with Martine Pisani, Based on the early works by Martine Pisani With - Theo Kooijman, Michikazu Matsune, Martine Pisani Light - Ludovic Rivière Video - Michikazu Matsune, Maximillian Pramatarov Artistic feedback - Miwa Negoro, Ludovic Rivière, Anne Lenglet Translation, proofreading - Marion Schwartz, Brian Haman Publication concept - Michikazu Matsune, Miwa Negoro Publication design - Aki Namba Video documentation - Markus Gradwohl Management - Franziska Zaida Schrammel, Frauke Niemann Production - Studio Matsune, La compagnie du solitaire Coproduction - Festival d’Avignon, Tanzquartier Wien, Maison de la Culture d’Amiens, fabrik Potsdam, SPRING Performing Arts Festival Utrecht
With the support of La Briqueterie Centre de développement chorégraphique national, Les Laboratoires d’Aubervilliers, Centre national de la danse (Pantin)
Funded by the Ministère de la Culture Drac Île-de-France, the Municipal Department of Cultural Affairs, Vienna, the Austrian Federal Ministry of Arts, Culture, Civil Service and Sports, the Austrian Cultural Forum Paris, Fonds Transfabrik (France, Germany) and ONDA – The French office for contemporary performing arts circulation
Creation for Festival d’Avignon 2023
