photo by Sylvia Steinhäuser
Saori HALA
performance artist / choreographer / dancer
Based in Berlin and Tokyo
Saori Hala is a choreographer and performance artist based in Berlin, Tokyo, and Yokohama. The aftermath of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and the nuclear accident at Fukushima inspired her relocation to Germany, and the start of her research into the theme of “the manoeuvred body”. Based on experiences and physical sensations of being born and raised in a disaster-stricken country, she applies human actions triggered by the environment and objects to her choreography. She draws inspiration from design theory and ecological psychology which she explored at Tokyo University of the Arts in Japan.
As a freelance artist, her works use a variety of materials including text, film, light, sound, and drawing, to propose the inseparable ways that time, space, and the body connect. In recent years, she has been fascinated by the relationship between society and the body, during the history of modernization in the East and West. Within this concept, she has been undertaking movement research on a wide range of subjects, including physical education, rituals, customs and culture.
Saori's works have been performed mainly in Japan and Europe; in 2019, a site-specific performance [no room] was presented at Dance New Air, the largest dance festival in Japan. With the support of the Pola Art Foundation and the Terumo Science and Culture Foundation, she produced [Da Dad Dada], an autobiographical multimedia performance encompassing her relationship with her twice-absent father, who passed away soon after he and Saori reunited for the first time in her young adult life. The work was shown in Japan and Germany and is scheduled to tour across Asia in 2021-2022. She is currently working as a choreographer-in-residence at Dance Base Yokohama and is developing a research project [Zekkei (Superb View)] with the support of Arts Commission Yokohama.
In 2018, she graduated with an MA in Solo Dance Performance at Berlin University of the Arts (HZT SODA). Accolades include the Choreography Prize at the Spanish International Festival of Arts and Dance, Mes De Danza, and the 9th El Sur Foundation New Talent Award for Contemporary Dance. Since 2020, she has been an Arts Commission Yokohama U39 Artist Fellow.
ハラサオリ
ダンサー、振付家、美術家。Co.Sディレクター。
(ベルリン/東京/横浜在住)
ベルリン、東京、横浜など複数の都市を拠点に、空間と身体、身体の帰属をテーマとしたパフォーマンスや振付作品を制作する。大学で学んだデザイン、生態心理学などのバックグラウンドや、幼少から続く自然災害との共生経験から「環境に動かされる身体」に着目したムーブメントリサーチを継続している。綿密なリサーチや独自の創作スタイルが評価され、2020年第9回エルスール財団新人賞コンテンポラリーダンス部門を受賞。
近年ではダンサーであった実父との生別/死別を扱ったセルフドキュメンタリー作品「Da Dad Dada(ダダッドダダ)」を日本とドイツの二カ国で発表。2021年10月国内最大のダンスフェスティバルDance New Airにて再演予定。同フェスティバルでは2019年秋にサイトスペシフィックパフォーマンス「no room」を上演。 詳細▷dancenewair.tokyo
また、舞台のみならず音楽やファッションなどのカルチャーシーンとも関わりながら多様な活動を展開している。近年の共演、出演、振付に大谷能生、角銅真実、小田朋美、原田知世、蓮沼執太、U-zhaan、NIKE、BLESS、オニツカタイガー、資生堂、shu uemura、カルティエなど。
東京芸術大学デザイン科修士、ベルリン芸術大学舞踊科ソロパフォーマンス専攻修了。2013年吉野石膏美術振興財団在外研修員。2017年ポーラ美術振興財団在外研修員。2020-2021年アーツコミッション横浜アーティストフェロー、Dance Base Yokohama レジデンスコレオグラファー。