Autrement dit / In other words

There are few dancing couples in the world as seductive and sensual as Hana Sakai and Yasutake Shimaki : when two heterogeneous worlds meet. She, a true icon of classical ballet in Japan, has embodied major roles of the repertoire throughout her career; he, a rare hip-hop dancer has worked for over ten years with the Forsythe Company; they, are amused by their similarities as well as their dissimilarities. Approaching fifty, at the peak of their art, the two performers jubilantly interweave their resources and fulcrums to invent a refreshing stage, open to all imaginary worlds. Cleverly braiding together the future and the past, nourished by autofiction, the creation allows us to imagine their encounter, both amorous and choreographic, as well as the projection of their bodies into the future. It's a performance of incredible energy and contagious panache, a singular journey towards an explosion of tenderness.

Hana Sakai

While most of the world’s best dancers train abroad, Hana Sakai trained in Japan, where she has built her career to become a classical ballet icon for the Japanese. Initially a member of the Asami Ballet Company, she performed the lead role in The Nutcracker at the age of 18. In 1997, when the Japanese state opened the New National Theater, they also created a ballet company, and Hana Sakai became its principal dancer. She performed leading roles in both the classical and neo-classical repertoires, including Manon, choreographed by Kenneth MacMillan. Abroad, she was invited to perform at the Dominic Walsh Dance Theater and at the Bolshoi for the Benois de la danse festival. Hana Sakai is a rare dancer who, even twenty years after leaving ballet, continues to be sought after by many choreographers and directors. In 2021, Toshiki Okada created for her Le Cygne, an excerpt from Camille Saint-Saëns’s Carnaval des animaux, to be followed in 2024-2025 by Giselle.

Yasutake Shimaji

After initially training and performing in hip hop dance, Yasutake Shimaji turned to contemporary dance when he was in university and left Japan a few years later to join the Forsythe Company, where he danced for nine years. In 2015, he returned to Japan, where he was selected as a Shiseido Camelia Club artist and presented performances and installations. He also created shows with Noh theater actor Reijiro Tsumura and rapper Roy Tamaki. In 2017, choreographer Darren Johnston invited him to take part in his creation Zero Point, presented at the Barbican in London. The same year, Shimaji created Short Shadows in Tokyo with former Forsythe Company member Alessio Silvestrin. In 2018, he completed a residency at Théâtre de Chaillot with Kenta Kojiri and Tomo Tsujimoto. In 2020, he presented Arika at the Maison de la culture du Japon in Paris. In 2023, he created and performed Love Project with Maria Zimpel at the Kampnagel, Hamburg. A dancer renowned for his charisma and elegance, he embodies strength and fluidity on stage.