Manri Kim Solo Performance

My Mother

supervised by Kazuo OHNO
choreographed by Yoshito OHNO


photo by FUKUNAGA, Kohji (Studio epoque)


"My Mother" is a symbolic dance piece with the motif of longing for her deceased mother and succession of the mother's soul.

Late Honju KIM (died 1998 at the age of 86) was the most valuable asset in Korean classic music and dance, but a tide of fate broughts her to Japan which was the very nation invades and colonizes her motherland. Honju KIM was so heroic as an artist that she went on singing and dancing with full of ethnic soul against any oppression during World War II.

Her youngest daughter, hoped as a successor, contacted polio and became severely disabled in her childhood. Later, the daughter, Manri KIM, founded TAIHEN and is producing extremely innovative physical theatre artworks which is quite different from her mother's classic art.
In this piece "My Mother", Manri KIM try to absorb some spirit of Korean classic art into her own original physical expression.

Further, Kazuo OHNO supervised this piece from his view point of BUTOH.
Then, three factors meet together at this piece: mold-breaking expression by physically disabled, soul of Korean classic performing arts and BUTOH.


Scene 1 The Fetus in a Dark Night
Scene 2 The garden of awakening.
Scene 3 The flower of ego and eros.
Scene 4 The Ties between Mother and Child
Scene 5 The seeds of the Universe -The flowers blossoming in the universe.
Scene 6 Seung-Mu of Manri -A dance of funeral.
(Song by Hong-Ju Kim)
Scene 7 A Dialog of Love

Record of the shows

1998 Edinburgh / Edinburgh Fringe Festival

1998 Osaka

1999 Tokyo

1999 Berlin

2000 Kochi

2000 Berlin

2000 Osaka

2001 Osaka

2002 Okinawa

2003 Taipei

2006 Kuala Lumpur

2011.8.8 Osaka University

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