Artists
TAIHEN
- Formed 1983 in Osaka, Japan. Based in Osaka, Japan.
“The disabled body itself is an art.” TAIHEN is a theatrical performance group of physically disabled people, performing professionally in Japan since 1983. Kim Manri has found that the disabled body has an expression that no one else can create. Twisted and distorted bodies, normally considered to be ungainly, are transformed into peculiar beauty. What she has started is a completely new genre, neither Butoh nor dance, that has given much inspiration and hope to all people, whether disabled or not. TAIHEN is a troupe of artists deeply expressing their inner selves through physical performance. The performers’ motions are far from standard, but they crawl, wriggle, squirm, walk, run, and jump unaided. Even if individual movements are not straight or rigorously controlled, the resulting expressions are finely balanced, demonstrating how one’s movement is directly connected to one’s inner life.
- Selected Performances
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- 2023
- “We came from Africa,” ABC Hall (Osaka, Japan)
- 2022
- “Song of White Petals,” AI HALL (Hyogo, Japan)
- 2021
- “Wandering Love” (trilogy), Yokohama International Performing Arts Meeting 2021 (Kanagawa, Japan)
- 2005
- “The Legend of Maha-Laba Village,” Theater der Welt (Stuttgart, Germany)
- 1997
- “DEPARTED SOUL,” 11. Berner Tanztage (Switzerland)
- Photo: Hikaru Toda