KINTSUGI

Kintsugi is the latest production by choreographer Isabella Soupart, an innovative collaboration with drummer-composer and producer Antoine Pierre/Vaague and dancer Elsa Tagawa.

Kintsugi is an ancestral Japanese art that consists of repairing a broken object by sublimating the cracks with gold so that it is enhanced by the repair. Kintsugi is an ode to imperfection and fragility. Inspired by this concept, choreographer Isabella Soupart’s new production explores the themes of imperfection, asymmetry and chaos.

Inspired by the graphic novel Furari, she transposes the codes of manga into eleven dynamic sequences, where dramatic poses and actions structure the choreography. The dancer moves between control, falling and resistance, embodying strength and fragility through a choreographic language that alternates between rupture and repair. Antoine’s Pierre musical composition follows closely with a subtle blending of breakbeat and acoustic drums, creating a tension between minimalism and sonic explosion. Sensors are fitted directly to the drums, each strike triggering sound samples assigned to different areas of the drums, transforming the instrument into a kind of interactive ‘controller’. A palette of sounds are thus created: drops of water, wood being struck, stone hitting concrete, human voices… These raw textures give rise to patterns where improvisation and structure respond to each other, opening the way for dynamic interactions between music and dance.

Costumes, hairstyles and uniforms are reminiscent of Japanese pop culture, while the minimalist set design integrates the technical elements of the stage – cables, microphones, mixing desk – as extensions of the choreographic gesture. Mobility and transformation thus become integral components of the show.

Production : Made in Bruxelles (2024)
Co-production : Festival Artonov, Fondation blan, Aubergine Artist Management, Bernaert’s Platform (Anvers) With the support of la Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles (FWB).

Team

Isabella Soupart – Concept, direction & choreography
Antoine Pierre – Composition, drums, electronics, sound samples
Elsa Tagawa – Dance & performance
Vincent De Bast – Sound engineer
Fiorella Lecoutteux – Production manager
Paméla Malempré – Management & booking
Daniel Verheyden – International production management