Yamashita invites us to fill in the gaps between body and language. From this confrontation of languages and simultaneous readings emerges a novel space, a zone of freedom entirely open to imagination. Delicate and nuanced, It is written there. is a remarkable choreographic treatise on communication.

Zan Yamashita first started associating words with movement to commit his own choreographies to memory. In It is written there., created in Osaka in 2002, the Japanese artist shares his choreographic “score” with the audience. The written succession of isolated words, long quotations or short haikus, and fragments of stories respond to the rhythm of the choreography.

Concept and Direction: Zan Yamashita | Book design: Emi Naya | Performance: Mizuho Araki, Tenko Ima, Maki Morishita, Mari Fukutome, Hiromi Miyakita | Light design: Asako Miura | Sound design: Mitsunori Miyata | Stage manager: Shuji Hamamura | Stage assistant: Reiko Kawashima | Production manager: Yusuke Hashimoto | Coproduction: Kyoto Art Center | Support: Japan Foundation

Zan Yamashita (Osaka, 1970) is a choreographer, director and dancer. He started dancing at age ten. Since the mid-90s, Yamashita has devoted his time to choreographing performances with dance collectives. His main works include The Sailors with dancers performing on a swinging raft and The Invisible Man with the expression of dance through words. His piece It's just me coughing received the Kyoto Art Center Theatre Award in 2004. Yamashita appeared in fuga#3, directed by Shogo Ota in 2005. He directed the improvisational piece Animal Theater. A special version of It's just me coughing debuted in Thailand in 2007. Zan Yamashita first performed in Europe in 2008 in KunstenFESTIVALdesArts, Brussels.

Further Reading:

Zan Yamashita