This is an international collaborative dance project by dancer and choreographer Kenta Kojiri and Germany-based architect and artist Hannes Mayer. To bring fresh perspectives to dance works, they have been collaborating with experts across multiple fields, including architecture, Japanese gardens, and urban design. Since 2023, with the unique Japanese spatial concept of engawa as their starting point, they have been exploring new interrelationships between performers and audiences in performance environments. From the perspective of the engawa, which connects the changing seasons to our daily lives, they aim to reexamine how bodies coexist with the environment and to open up novel imaginative possibilities and sensations from the margins created between architecture and the body, inside and outside.
In this project, they created the dance piece “Engawa, The Self in Season” based on their accumulated research and dialogue. They positioned the stage as their final process space, serving as the culmination of their collaborative research, and held performances in two cities: Toyohashi in Aichi Prefecture and Yokohama in Kanagawa Prefecture.
This video consists of footage from the Yokohama performances and interviews with participating artists.

This work was produced for the Japan Foundation’s International Creations in Performing Arts 2025.
https://www.jpf.go.jp/e/project/culture/perform/creation/2025/index.html

Their two-year collaborative research journey on the theme of engawa is now available on SandD’s Vimeo.
https://vimeo.com/1164879163/3d6b7f5f1a?share=copy&fl=sv&fe=ci

＜Performance Information＞
Choreography/Direction/Concept：Kenta Kojiri
Scenography/Concept： Hannes Mayer
Performers：Rena Narumi,Takuya Sato, Chiaki Horita, Mano Hatanaka, Jun Aoyagi, Kenta Kojiri

Music：tatsukiamano
Lighting Design：Yukiko Yoshimoto（MAHIRU）
Lighting Operator：Hiroyuki Ito（MAHIRU）, Yuki Hanawa（MAHIRU）
Sound Design：Shunsuke Fujimaki
Costume：Mayumi Yamaguchi（FUKUBI）
Textile design：Akane Moriyama/Studio Akane Moriyama
Costume Cooperation：Saeko Sugai, Kazuki Sugai
Stage Manager：Daijiro Kawakami（Scale Laboratory）
Stage Production Support：Masaki Kondo, Hideaki Ikemori
Production Manager：Nanami Endo

Publicity Design：Yusuke Kawamura
Photography：momoko japan
Documentation Video：AOZORA Inc.
Publicity Video：Lucas Provost

Adviser：Kercuku Agim＜Architecture/Urban Planning＞, Mares Emmanuel＜Garden Cultural History＞,Takayoshi Takahashi＜Sports Biomechanics＞, Hokuto Kodama＜Dance Aesthetics/Performance Studies＞

Organizer, Planning and Production：SandD
Co-Organizer & Co-Production：The Japan Foundation
In cooperation with Steep Sloop Studio, Koganecho Area Management Center, studio ARCHITANZ, Sankeien Hoshokai Foundation
Research Support：Kyoto Art Center（Co-program2025 Category C:”Joint experiments”）
Supported by istyle Art Foundation

＜Performance in Toyohashi＞
Organizer：SandD, Toyohashi Cultural Foundation
Co-Organizer：Toyohashi City, The Japan Foundation
Supported by the Agency for Cultural Affairs, Government of Japan through the Japan Arts Council

＜Performance in Yokohama＞
Organizer：SandD, Yokohama Dance Collection, Yokohama Red Brick Warehouse No.1 [Yokohama Arts Foundation]
Co-Organizer：The Japan Foundation
Supported by Agency for Cultural Affairs, Government of Japan（Arts and Culture Promotion Fund：Comprehensive Support Program for Performing Arts/International Arts Exchange）| Japan Arts Council

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