KK Youth Project

On the invitation of Kiyoko Kimura to take part in her KK Youth Project, I have had the chance to work for about ten days with young students and pre-professional dancers in Tokyo, Japan. It had been more than 10 years since my last trip to Japan so I was pretty excited to be back in Tokyo!

Kiyoko Kimura started this project a few years ago, inviting teachers/choreographers such as Giovanni di Palma and Masa Kolar thus creating a platform for her students to experience a creation process and be able to work on different styles. Over the course of these workshops I created a short piece for about 22 dancers on Händel’s famous Sarabande.

After about ten days of daily work the show was really well received and the students gave a very inspired performance.

Being able to work with students from age 12 to 18 was a first experience for me. My fear and questioning about my ability to include all different levels and ages rapidly vanished as I saw how responsive they were to all informations I was giving them. It was very moving to see them process, evolve and absorb every bit of choreography and restore them quite instantly.  The dedication and hard working they showed during this process touched me deeply and it will sure leave a special mark in my heart.