Trajal Harrell is a choreographer, dancer and researcher based in several cities around the world. With his unique choreographies that intersect various styles from the history of dance, especially voguing*, post-modern dance that emerged in 1960s New York, and Japanese Butoh, Harrell is one of the most important currently active choreographers and continues to redefine the state of dance in the 21st century. His works combine choreographies created by reconstructing and questioning the history of dance, costumes that allude and pay homage to the history of fashion, and music selected by Harrell. In recent years, Harrell’s performances are also accompanied by pop-up shops that sell personal objects and heirlooms as art. Through Harrell’s work, all these distinct elements begin to groove with each other and liberate the viewer from their conventional senses, radically transforming the very experience of watching a dance unfold. In 2019, Harrell became one of the house directors at The Schauspielhaus Zurich in Switzerland and the founding director of the Schauspielhaus Zurich Dance Ensemble, where he continues to produce much-discussed works.

One of Harrell’s most significant inspirations is Hijikata Tatsumi (1928–1986), the Japanese founder of Butoh dance. Harrell’s continuous research and re-interpretations of Butoh since 2013 have now flourished into his latest piece Sister or He Buried the Body (2022), which allows audiences to witness the special moment when Harrell uses movements and gestures to channel a voguing Hijikata Tatsumi. Is the titular sister a reference to Hijikata’s Yameru Maihime (“The Ailing Dance Mistress”) or is she a dancer forgotten by the history of dance? Harrell’s piece also makes slight but plausible alterations to history to connect Hijikata with fashion designer Rei Kawakubo. Further, Harrell will also perform his 2019 work Dancer of the Year, making his participation in the Aichi Triennale 2022 a double bill. In this solo piece Harrell, who won the Dancer of the Year award in 2017, uses his body to channel the history of dance that keeps influencing his works, and reflects on the meaning, the aesthetics and the privileges of being a dancer.

* (Voguing is a style of dance that began in New York’s black and Latino LGBT community in the 1960s. The name inspired by the eponymous fashion magazine, voguing is characterized by movements and repeatedly striking poses on a runway, or in a fashion photoshoot, to impress an audience of peers.)

Selected Works & Awards

2021

Dancer of the Year and Dancer of the Year Shop, Sao Paulo Bienale, Sao Paulo, Brazil

2019

Dancer of the Year and Dancer of the Year Shop, Kanal Pompidou, Brussels, Belgium

2017

Hoochie Koochie, Barbican Centre, London, UK

2016

Caen Amour, Festival Avignon, Avignon, France

2013

Used Abused and Hung Out to Dry, MoMA, New York, USA

2012

New York Dance and Performance Award (Bessie Award) for Antigone Sr./Twenty Looks or Paris is Burning at !e Judson Church (L), USA

• Photo: Orpheas Emirzas

• Photo: Orpheas Emirzas