Belgian dance company KAIHO is researching the topic of social isolation in Estonia

STL (Sõltumatu Tantsu Lava) is hosting the Belgian dance company KAIHO, whose research project AVoid is focusing on the Japanese phenomenon hikikomori.

The Belgian dance company KAIHO is visiting STL from October 31st to November 11th 2023 as part of international residency program Moving Identities. KAIHO’s residency project AVoid is rooted in the Japanese concept hikikomori — the withdrawal into seclusion, a particular condition where people avoid social contact on an extreme level. The interdisciplinary research project connects acro-dance, contortion, contemporary dance and physical theater with personal stories while using innovative physicality and characterisation. Meeting with the artists will take place at STL on November 11th at 16:00.  

"This project is born from mine and Marina’s (contortion artist, co-director of AVoid) mutual fascination with solitude, incompleteness, contradictions and Japanese culture in general. Though this phenomenon has a common place in Japanese society, it exists on many levels all around the world, but is rarely addressed socially. Some of the questions driving our project are:  What are the discernible differences between solitude and loneliness? What does hikikomori mean on the European continent and how do different cultures deal with social withdrawal?" says KAIHO’s artistic director Brandon Lagaert.

During the first residency in Belgium at Kunstenwerkplaats VONK, KAIHO collected local stories, culminating with the creation of a video. Based on the personal stories, the artists plan to start a physical research at STL in Tallinn. To describe the creation of a language of movement, the artists draw parallels with being immersed in an alternate universe – confronting their fantasies, fears, neuroses, as a disruption to the conventional social movements and interactions. KAIHO’s last residency will take place in Spring 2024 at Nau Ivanow International residence space of performing arts in Barcelona, where their focus will be on creating lighting for the performance. 

Founded by Brandon Lagaert in 2015, the Belgian company KAIHO is a performance art company that uses dance, theater, visual art, and film to tell narratives with a surreal twist. The works are mostly of a collaborative nature with other companies and artists of different backgrounds, enriching the world and the vocabulary of the collective. For Moving Identities, Kaiho collaborates with the contortionist artist Marina Cherry co-directing the solo AVoid together with Brandon Lagaert, with the presence of Sara Angelucci as artistic assistant, and Thibault Condy as a light designer. 

Moving Identities is a 3-year residency programme for performing artists funded by The Creative Europe Programme that creates a more sustainable, diverse and including platform for European Identities in the performing arts. Focusing on European identities today, the aim of the project is to create a network of residencies and experts, connecting artists, venues, and experts across borders in an eco-friendly way. The artists selected for the 1st residency year from Estonia are the group Artefactourists  – choreographers Valeria Januškevitš, Keity Pook, Sigrid Savi, Kadri Sirel and dramaturg Kerli Ever. Read more about the Moving Identities residency programme HERE

Partner venues from Estonia are Sõltumatu Tantsu Lava and Vaba Lava, Udviklingsplatformen for Scenekunst from Denmark, Davvi – Centre for Performing Arts from Norwa, HELLERAU – European Centre for the Arts from Germany, Kunstenwerkplaats VONK from Belgium and Nau Ivanow from Spain

In between and during residencies, Moving Identities offers mentorship from the project’s expert partners in topics of diversity, LGBTQIA+ representation, sustainability, and touring, and we will help the artists develop their careers internationally.

Sõltumatu Tantsu Lava (STL) is a dance performance and development center in Tallinn, Estonia. STL’s vision is to focus on contemporary dance art in its various forms of expression. In addition to performances, they host workshops, creative residencies, educational lectures, the platform Premiere for up- and coming choreographers, and the artist platform Greenfield.

Photo: STL