I dance because I do not trust words

For ten years, Kaori Ito lived thousands of kilometers apart from her father. She has dedicated this poetic dance piece to their reunion and the two can be seen together on stage. They portray love, separation, disillusion, resignation and pride. I dance because I do not trust words gives an open-hearted insight into the bond between father and daughter Ito. He happens to be a famous visual artist in Tokyo and she has made a world-wide breakthrough as a dancer. He was authoritarian and she revered him. He is now older and more fragile and perhaps the roles have reversed. But the duet nonetheless shows the universal father and daughter bond. The man who was your first hero in life, who has fallen off his pedestal, the one you are trying to break free from until the moment that you sense invisible forces are pulling you back to him because he is a part of you. Kaori and Hiroshi Ito show courage by reuniting and openly discussing everything that was left unspoken for all those years. She asks him many questions: “Why do you smoke? Why are your images so dark? Why don’t you stand up straight? Why do you always cook curries? Are you frightened by the distance between us?” He is old and his answers are wise and true: “I believe I see you more often than other parents see their children.” This conversation between father and daughter thus not only becomes a dance-like document of relationships, but also makes the unspoken between the generations visible and tangible to the public. “Because in Japan, we do not trust words,” says Kaori.

Duration: 60 min.

A production by Compagnie Himé. Coproduction and residency : Théâtre Garonne – Toulouse/ FRANCE, Théâtre de Saint-Quentin-en- Yvelines – Scène nationale/ FRANCE, Théâtres de la Ville de LUXEMBOURG, Ménagerie de verre – Paris/ FRANCE, ADC Genève/ SWITZERLAND, Lieu Unique – scène nationale de Nantes/ FRANCE, Klap Maison pour la danse – Marseille/ FRANCE, Avant-Scène – Scène conventionnée de Cognac/ FRANCE, Channel – scène nationale de Calais/ FRANCE and Filature – Scène nationale de Mulhouse/ FRANCE, Fondation Sasakawa/ JAPAN. Partners: Ville de Genève, Arcadi Île-de-France, SSA, Pro Helvetia, Loterie Romande and Fondation Ernst Gohner. The Association Himé is supported by the BNP Paribas Foundation for the whole of its projects. The company is supported by the direction régionale des affaires culturelles d’Île-de-France – Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication. Kaori Ito is an associate artist to Creteil’s Mac and Le Centquatre Paris as well as in artistic partnership with KLAP Maison pour la danse.

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