EXPERIMENTAL NIGHT at SOL GALLERY
Experimentation Series #1
VIDEO, DANCE , CONVERSATION, DRINKS
BUTOH and BEYOND
What is the ultimate?究極とは？
Tuesday 17 June at 7pm
@SOL Gallery 420 Brunswick StreetFitzroy
Photo by Takahiro Kitagawa @ the Tenri University annual performance event 2024
Experimentation Series #1
VIDEO・DANCE ・CONVERSATION・DRINKS
BUTOH and BEYOND
”What is the ultimate?究極とは？”
"Butoh is not a pursuit of the ultimate, but a continuous, unfinished motion that keeps
displacing and reframing what the 'ultimate' could be."
Daisuke Yoshimoto
舞踏は『究極』を目指すものではなく、絶え間ない未完成の運動として究極を常にずらしながら存在している。
“Butoh is not the pursuit of perfection, but the ultimate surrender to what lies beneath form.”
Kazuo Ono
舞踏は完成の追求ではなく、形の奥にあるものへの究極的な明け渡しである
Facilitated by Yumi Umiumare, this is an experimental night at SOL GALLERY
to view performances created in Japan, along with short live dance works, followed by informal discussions over tea and drinks.
Come and join us to stimulate your creative mind through Butoh and beyond.
Performers
Hinata Kawamura
Leyla Boz
Tylah Syme
Yumi Umiumare
__________________________________________
Photo by Takahiro Kitagawa @ the Tenri University annual performance event 2024
design by Hinata Kawamura
I was made for loving you.Melbourne’s RISING Festival, Japanese artist Saeborg.
I'm currently performing at Melbourne’s RISING Festival, working with stunning Japanese artist Saeborg, and yes… every night I become a dog. Literally.
Thurs 5th June to Sunday 15th June, from 5pm to 12pm, Howey Place, Melbourne CBD.
(Howey Place, a shopping mall at 234 Collins Street which runs through to Collins Street, as well forming an "L" shape toward the back of the Capitol Arcade which connects it with Swanston Street.)
Image: Jacqui Stockdale with Yumi
Working Like a Dog?
No—I am the dog.
I was made for loving you. Melbourne’s RISING Festival, Japanese artist Saeborg. Thurs 5th June to Sunday 15th June — 5pm to 12pm, Howey Place, Melbourne
I'm currently performing at Melbourne’s RISING Festival, working with stunning Japanese artist Saeborg, and yes… every night I become a dog. Literally.
Saeborg is an internationally acclaimed artist, winner of the Taro Okamoto Contemporary Art Award (Toshiko Okamoto Prize, 2014) and the recent Tokyo Contemporary Art Award. Her work, often featuring self-made latex body suits, explores the idea of cyborgs as "incomplete beings—half-human, half-toy," transcending age and gender through artificiality. Every detail is hand-crafted, and she performs inside the costumes herself.
She is a hard-core powerhouse, but she is very kind and charming person.
To be honest, at first I wasn’t so sure about getting into a latex dog suit…
But stepping into the world from a dog's eye view—seeing, moving, and sensing humans from that perspective—opened up something profound!
To ‘perform’ as SaeDog, she told me to let go the desire to “express’ something, and explore what exists between you and audience…OMG those are almost same as philosophy of Butoh!
I could enter those full Butoh-body mode , through touch, scent, subtle presence as a dog, even I was surrounded by the shiny latex, far from anything “natural” or “organic”! Those surreal texture of latex makes me quest for that canine presence.
It actually reminded me of working with Kaitaisha theatre, an amazing Japanese company, where actors explored the idea of “inu-kehai” (dog-aura or dog-sensitivity)—incredibly subtle, deeply embodied movement.
Woof woof!
Come and see the world!
In a glass box like a pet shop window in CBD Melbourne, SaeDog, a fragile creature—tearful, shedding a little from stress, sits Vulnerable, tender, endlessly giving love, and somehow… funny and heartbreaking all at once.
We tried to find the right English words for “はかないHakanai” or “切ないsetsunai”.(My tea teacher Adam sensei told me that it could be like pensive, forlorn.)
Either way, SaeDog is somehow surreal wabi-sabi of Japanese art!! Ha
Come and see us 5pm-12am Thursday to Sunday every night this week in the Howey Place in the City!
In English there is an expression "working like a dog" but this time I'm working "being a dog". Lol
Working with Japanese artist Saeborg at RISING, Melbourne's International Arts Festival, makes me doggie every night.
Saeborg is a selling artist who has been awarded the "Taro Okamoto Contemporary Art Award" Okamoto Toshiko Award (2014) and recently the Tokyo Contemporary Art Award, and has been traveling all over the world!
"As a half human, half toy imperfect cyborg, I made my own latex bodysuits that I believe can transcend gender, age, and more by being artificial." and many pieces have been produced. All the detail work is handmade, and it's super tight that puts itself into the onesie and performs, but he's actually very gentle.
Honestly, at first, I was running away thinking I would fit into a clothesie, but somehow, I realized that the world is very deep in which you can see, move, and feel human through the gaze of a dog. Some of the ideas for performing "Sae Dok" (this time's name for the doggy) include "expressing something out of itself" and "searching for something between you and the audience" and that's truly a dance!
Once you start to feel a dog's skin, feel, smell, etc, it's completely a dragon! Lolz.
Back in the day, when I worked with the theater company, I remembered how the actors used to move subtlely with the expression "dog-sensitive". It's a real deep world.
The actual dog is made of latex, and quite the opposite of the so-called organic world, but therefore I'm looking for a "dog-like" that's extra surreal.
This saedog says, "A teary, stressed and slightly hairless, in the middle of Melbourne's streets, in a glass-like pet shop." Somewhere humorous, as the title suggests this time, he is a gentle or vulnerable presence who keeps giving love.
I tried to translate "hakanai" and "heartbreaking" in English, but I couldn't find any good words.. This is also a bit surreal "Wabi Sabi" art from Japan.
(Afterwards, I asked Dr. Adam of tea, and he said that the words "pensive" and "forlorn" are expressions of lonelyness.. )
Starting this week Thursday through Sunday
At Howey Place from 5pm to 12pm
(Howey Place runs South from Little Collins Street between Swanston Street and Elizabeth Street. It joins with the shopping mall at 234 Collins Street which runs through to Collins Street, as well forming an "L" shape toward the back of the Capitol Arcade which connects it with Swanston Street.)
Buried TeaBowl- OKUNI: Ready for Tour!
Buried TeaBowl -OKUNI is an intimate and epic solo performance installation bringing together dance, text, song and tea ceremony. The work was premiered in May 2022 with sold out season and now ready for touring around the globe!
“...the traditional Japanese tea ceremony a 21st century feminist spin. ... a Proustian, unruly one woman show, a work of pleasure and bite.”
“…so strange and grotesque, it almost defies description”
“dense and visceral at the same time.”
INSTALLATION - PERFORMANCE - TEA
ABOUT
Buried TeaBowl -OKUNI is an intimate and epic solo performance installation bringing together dance, text, song and tea ceremony with stunning film captured in 2021 during the lockdown.The work is inspired by the Japanese historical female dancer and shrine made Okuni, who initiated Kabuki theatre in the early 1600s, which women were banned from performing after these times.
At the height of her powers, Yumi Umiumare, Melbourne performance legend and Australia’s leading Butoh artist, unearths precious sacred female power which has been buried throughout history.Yumi channels the multifaceted character of Okuni who was so powerful, yet fragile and complex, to reawaken her spirit through excavating these buried stories and myths.
CREATIVE TEAM
Created and Performed : Yumi Umiumare
Cinematographer/ Editor : Takeshi Kondo
Composer/ Sound Designer : Dan West
Lighting designer: Emma Lockhart-Wilson
Dramaturg/ Maude Davey
Provocateur : Moira Finucane
Producer : Kath Papas productions
Photographer: Vikk Shayen
Graphic design : Mariko Naito & Taka Takiguchi
Calligraphy: Hisako Tsuchiya
Publicity : Diana Wolfe
PHOTO CREDITS
Vikk Shayen (Above)
Takeshi Kondo (Below)
The show was premiered at the BlackCat Gallery in May 2022.
SUPPORT & ACKNOWLEDGMENTS for the premiere season
The premiere season was supported by the Besen Family Foundation and BLACKCAT Gallery.
IN-VOCATION たまおこし Performance in FRAME: biennial dance festival
Performed at FRAME in 2023 at Dancehouse
Performed by Yumi Umiumare, Kayo Tamura and Kyoko Amara
Installation by Jacqui Stockdale
Sound by Ai Yamamoto
Punk, playful, and exuberant, this is an intimately epic and profanely sacred ritual.
When: 21 (Tue) March 7pm and 28(Tue) March 7pm and 9pm ( 3 shows ONLY )
Where: Dancehouse 150 Princes St Carlton North, Victoria
BOOKING
Entangling old world Kabuki mystique with volumetric 3D video, “IN-VOCATION たまおこし” summons the sacred power of female archetypes and deities.
In collaboration with a clairvoyant from Japan, local artists, and an international guest performer, Yumi Umiumare opens a Jujutsu 呪術 (Magic) portal to discover the colourful characters of OKUNI — an initiator of Kabuki Japanese theatre.
Evolving out of Yumi’s solo work, “Buried TeaBowl – OKUNI”, the team of mystics return to prod their collective memories and discover the many essences of the divine feminine.
Punk, playful, and exuberant, this is an intimately epic and profanely sacred ritual that incites an audience revolt of the spirit.
CREDIT
Choreographer: Yumi Umiumare
Performers: Yumi Umiumare, Kayo Tamura (Theatre Group Gumbo, Osaka), Kyoko Amara (Taiyosha, Iwate)
Visual Artist: Jacqui Stockdale
Sound Designer: Ai Yamamoto
3D Video: EMD Studio, Centre for Transformative Media Technologies, Swinburne University of Technology.
Original score from “Buried TeaBowl – Okuni”: Dan West
Original video from “Buried TeaBowl – Okuni”: Takeshi Kondo
Image credits: “IN-VOCATION たまおこし” (2023), Yumi Umiumare. Photo by Vikk Shayen.
Buried TeaBowl- OKUNI
Buried TeaBowl -OKUNI is an intimate and epic solo performance installation bringing together dance, text, song and tea ceremony with stunning film captured in 2021 during the lockdown.The work is inspired by the Japanese historical female dancer and shaman Okuni, who initiated Kabuki theatre in the early 1600s, which women were banned from performing after these times.
INSTALLATION - PERFORMANCE - TEA
Buried TeaBowl -OKUNI is an intimate and epic solo performance installation bringing together dance, text, song and tea ceremony with stunning film captured in 2021 during the lockdown.The work is inspired by the Japanese historical female dancer and shaman Okuni, who initiated Kabuki theatre in the early 1600s, which women were banned from performing after these times.
At the height of her powers, Yumi Umiumare, Melbourne performance legend and Australia’s leading Butoh artist, unearths precious sacred female power which has been buried throughout history.Yumi channels the multifaceted character of Okuni who was so powerful, yet fragile and complex, to reawaken her spirit through excavating these buried stories and myths.
CREATIVE TEAM
Created and Performed : Yumi Umiumare
Cinematographer/ Editor : Takeshi Kondo
Composer/ Sound Designer : Dan West
Lighting designer: Emma Lockhart-Wilson
Dramaturg/ Maude Davey
Provocateur : Moira Finucane
Producer : Kath Papas productions
Photographer: Vikk Shayen
Graphic design : Mariko Naito
Calligraphy: Hisako Tsuchiya
Publicity : Diana Wolfe
The show was premiered at the BlackCat Gallery in May 2022.
Date/Time:
Thu 5 May 8:30pm – Preview
Fri 6 May 8pm – Opening
Sat 7 May 8pm
Sun 8 May 6pm
Wed 11 May 8pm
Thu 12 May 8pm
Fri 13 May 8pm
Sat 14 May 8pm
Sun 15 May 6pm
Duration: 80 mins
Tickets:
Full: $35 / Con: $25
Superiori-TEA: $50 incl. drink on arrival
Address:
BlackCat Gallery
420 Brunswick St
Fitzroy 3065
Vic Australia
PHOTO CREDITS
Vikk Shayen (Above)
Takeshi Kondo (Below)
SUPPORT & AKCNOWLEDGEMENTS
This season is supported by the Besen Family Foundation and BLACKCAT Gallery.
Buried TeaBowl a new solo work in progress 2021
Yumi is creating a new solo work Buried TeaBowl, an interdisciplinary work with dance, text, song and poetry, inspired by Japanese female dancer/shaman, Okuni in 1600’s. The work in progress was completed in Aug 2021, and will be premiered in a live and digital performance in 2022.
photo by Vikk Shayen
Yumi's new solo work Buried TeaBowl, a work in progress, Aug 2021
Buried Tea Bowl is a new solo interdisciplinary work in development by Yumi Umiumare, bringing together dance, text, song and poetry with tea ceremony to create an intimate and epic work with both live and digital iterations.
Buried Tea Bowl channels the character of Okuni, a Japanese female shaman who initiated Kabuki during the Edo period (1600s). Kabuki comes from the word ‘Kabuku’, meaning bent or out of the ordinary, and was regarded as a subversive non-art form, passionately expressing ugliness and beauty. Later women were banned from performing Kabuki – the male performers who took over the art form can be seen as the first Japanese Drag Queens. Even though she was one of the most powerful female figures in theatre history, not many people know about Okuni, even in Japan.
Combining Yumi’s practice of Japanese tea ceremony, which flourished at the same period as Okuni was alive, she is choosing the ‘tea bowl’ as a creative metaphor of precious sacred female power which was buried under history.
Creative Team for Creative Development 2021
Created and Performed by Yumi Umiumare
In collaboration with
Cinematographer/ Editor : Takeshi Kondo
Composer/ Sound Designer : Dan West
Dramaturg : Maude Davey
Provocateur : Moira Finucane
Vocal Artist : Emma Bathgate
Shamisen Artist : Noriko Tadano
Photographer : Vikk Shayen
Producer : Kath Papas productions
This project has been assisted by
The Australian Government through the Australia Council for the Arts, its arts funding and advisory body
City of Darebin, Cultural Infrastructure Grants
Abbotsford Convent Foundation, Pivot 2021
Wanna Be a Rabbit? by Weave Movement Theatre is now postponed till 2022
Wanna Be a Rabbit? the show by Weave Movement Theatre directed by Yumi Umiumare is postponed till 2022
A dynamic collaboration between Yumi Umiumare and Weave Movement Theatre. Highly visual physical theatre with a sense of the ridiculous.
Due to the Covid-19 restrictions, the show is postponed till 2021.
Wannabe a Rabbit? is the outcome of the unique chemistry between Yumi Umiumare, international 'Butoh Cabaret' artist and Weave, a company of disabled and non-disabled performers.
Through Butoh-esque absurdity, highly visual physical theatre, text and startling installations, the work humorously reverses societal perceptions. It probes the human compulsion to categorise and judge. What are you? A wife, a worker, disabled, a refugee, black/white, an Aussie oi oi, a rabbit?
CREDITS
Director/Choreographer : Yumi Umiumare
Co-creator/Performers:
David Baker, Willow J Conway, Trevor Dunn, Janice Florence,
Zya Kane, Greg Muir, Emma Norton, Anthony Riddell, Takashi Takiguchi
Producer: Janice Florence (Artistic Director, Weave Movement Theatre)
Sound Designer : Dan West
Installation artist: Pimpisa Tinpalet
Costume designers: Joe Noonan & Brynna Lowen
Lighting designer: Rachel Lee
Videographer : Tan Kang Wei
Photographer: Vikk Shayen
Outside eye: Maude Davey
Photos (below) by Paul Dunn
PopUp Tearoom Series @ Abbotsford Convent Open Spaces 2018
PopUp Tearoom Series at Abbotsford Convent' Open Spaces 2018
CuriosiTEA : Nov 17(Sat) 2 – 9pm & 18(Sun) 12 – 6pm @ Oratory, Sacred Heart building
'CuriosiTEA' Pop-up Tearoom at Abbotsford Convent' Open Spaces 2018
Nov 17(Sat) 2 – 9pm & 18(Sun) 12 – 6pm @ Oratory, Sacred Heart building
A fusion of Butoh, dance, performance and installation, with classical and contemporary Japanese tea ceremonies, audiences are invited to come and go, pause and reflect. As long ago as the 16th century, tearooms were created in war zones, with the tea ceremony functioning to relieve emotional stress and restore social order. Curious about what sort of ‘tea’ we can make today, Yumi invokes the Japanese notion of ‘ma’ or ‘active pause’ and serves you a bowl of 'curiosiTEA' with an element of surprise and provocation. Yumi is behind the dyanamic ButohOUT! Festival, held annually at the Convent and regularly performs and producers work onsite.
Dance Massive Site Responsive Showcase, presented by Abbotsford Convent and Ausdance Victoria as part of Dance Massive 2019.
Image: Anne Moffat
White Day Dream - in collaboration with Weave Movement Theatre
Presented by Weave Movement Theatre and Yumi Umiumare, White Day Dream is a unique fusion between Butoh and physical theatre performed by dancers with and without disability.
WHITE DAY DREAM with Weave Movement Theatre 27 October 2016 – 6 November 2016preview: Thursday 27 October opening night: Friday 28 October Auslan interpreted performance: Sunday 6 November
Presented by Weave Movement Theatre and Yumi Umiumare, White Day Dreamis a unique fusion between Butoh and physical theatre performed by dancers with and without disability. The work moves between the surreal and absurd exploring universal human themes of memory and dreams, their fragility, transience and power. Like a dream itself, White Day Dream recalls subconscious emotions, where things are at once unexpectedly linked and disconnected.
Direction and Choreography by Yumi Umiumare Composition and Sound Design by Dan West Stage and Costume Design by Jennifer Tran Lighting Design by Richard Vabre Media Art by Bambang N Karim Performed by Emma J Hawkins, Willow J Conway, Tim Crafti, David Baker, Trevor Dunn, Janice Florence, Melanie Keely, Greg Muir, Ryan New, Emma Norton, Leisa Prowd and Anthony Riddell
Weave Artistic Director Janice Florence
Photo by Paul Dunn
In bed with... The elephant in the room
A work in progress performance devised by the creative team in collaboration with women from the sex industry, men and youth( platform youth theatre).Through the stories of local and traffic women we ask, what is the impact of the sex industry upon us all?
@ Lamama Courthouse Theatre
Project respect in collaboration with platform youth theatre
A work in progress performance devised by the creative team in collaboration with women from the sex industry, men and youth.Through the stories of local and traffic women we ask, what is the impact of the sex industry upon us all?
Direction: Catherine Simmonds
Choreography: Yumi Umiumare
Sound Design: Dan West
Performers from Platform youth theatre and Project respect
