transformation kojishi
Akino Distelberger
2016
Artist Statement
Renjishi is a traditional Japanese dance of father Shishi and his son Shishi. Shishi is a male lion- dragon, mystical animal - originally a buddihist being. They live on a chinese mountain called Seiryozan. The father pushes his son down the mountain and waits for his son, hoping he is able to climb up by himself. He gets a respectful and strict education through this method, what is meant to be a good father and son relation. In the end, after successfully climbing the mountain, father and son demonstrate their strength together with Tomoe movements, a circular swirl of her mane. In my work I focused on the wig, which I made by myself. I tried to give my object the space to transform with and on my body. A communication between object and body. A try to bring traditional Japanese dance in a contemporary context. Photos: mani froh
I visited Japan many times for personal, family, educational and artistic reasons. My Japanese experience shaped me and my being a lot. Even as a child I asked myself why Japanese culture is the way it is and made me look for answers in different ways. Through Nihon Buyo I got a different understanding of his culture, as well as an understanding of the background and roots of today's culture. Today I see how much has been lost and new space has taken place. I think Japan's new culture will be much more powerful if it remains aware of its roots and origins.
Artist Bio
Akino Distelberger Choreographer, performer and dance pedagoge. Lives in lower austria. Studied contemporary dance and pedagogics at MUK in Vienna and MSGSÜ in Istanbul; she got the scholarship "Startstipendium" for young artists of the BMUKK Austria 2016; 2018 she completed her Nihon Buyo (traditional japanese dance) education at the Nishikawa school in Sapporo und Nagoya and got the name Nishikawa Eishou. Dance und performance projekte with: Hubert Lepka (Sofamaschine/Vienna 2011), Jesus de Vega Gomez (Double Points: Remains/ Istanbul 2012), Anton Lachky (Golden Jumpers/ Bleiburg, Austria 2015), Olivia Hild (Vom Zwitschern der Zeit/ Tirol, Austria 2019) Own works: Same Aime/ KulturErleben Wieselburg, Austria 2012, Konitchiwa bitches /Home is where the art is, Vienna 2014, Better together/ Katapult festival Berlin 2014, suppression/ Festspielhaus St.Pölten 2015, Who wants miau/ Sanata Görünürlük Festival Istanbul and Home- music and art festival- Vienna 2016, Ume no te: fragments/ Home- music and art festival Vienna 2018 , Traumland/ KulturErleben Wieselburg, Austria 2018, Shitchifukujin: movement research/ Stiege13 Vienna 2020.