TeZukA - NZIAF

Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui

“Sidi Larbi – the cross-cultural, cross-disciplinary poet of contemporary dance”
The Daily Telegraph (UK)

Experience the magic of Japanese manga in Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui’s entrancing follow-up to 2010 Festival smash hit Sutra.

From Bunkamura (Tokyo), Eastman (Antwerp) and distinguished London dance house Sadler’s Wells comes a major new dance work from this riveting Belgian- Moroccan choreographer. It is inspired by the creations of legendary Japanese manga artist Osamu Tezuka – the ‘Walt Disney of Anime’ and the inventor of Astro Boy.

Dance and animation combine in a production that is visually breathtaking. The dancers’ liquid movements create brushstrokes upon a vast canvas; inky blooms of colour and coiling calligraphy emerge on giant unfurling scrolls. Manga characters move within an animated scaffold of comic-strips, and a Shaolin monk enacts an enthralling kung fu battle – complete with cartoon ka-pows.

Three musicians perform the hauntingly exotic soundscape by Nitin Sawhney, joined on stage by a calligrapher whose live drawing blends with animation by Tezuka and video artist Taiki Ueda.

TeZukA is a feast for the eyes that celebrates an artist at the very heart of contemporary Japanese culture.

Production: Sadler’s Wells (London), Bunkamura (Tokyo), Eastman (Antwerp)
Co-Production: Les Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg, Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay Singapore, Parc de la Villette Paris, DeSingel Antwerp and Movimentos Festwochen der Autostadt Wolfsburg.
In collaboration with Tezuka Productions.

Sponsored by Sauce