Yumino Seki

dance artist, Butoh practitioner, qualified somatic movement educator & therapist  

MANJUSAKA まんじゅさか - The Equinox Flower

Butoh & light installation

2015

Produced by 18Hours & SEKI DANCE PROJECT

Directed by Yumino Seki

Presented by Yumino Seki (dance), Alison Grace (dance), Fabiola Santana (dance), Caleb Madden (light), Nick Weeks (sound), Leila McMillan (costume), Jane Perkins (stage set engineering), Gareth Jenkinson (technical support) Gary Rowe (mentor) and Jim Roseveare.

MANJUSAKA is a vivid red flower in the amaryllis family that blooms at the autumn equinox when the dead and living are believed to converge.  Inspired by the Japanese ancestor worship  Seki and her cross-disciplined team explore worlds of the immortal in Butoh dance, sound-scape and lights.  MANJUSAKA is an evocative collage, a fusion of East and West, contemporary and traditional.  

MANJUSAKA consists 5 sketches;  

• Fukushima Butterfly
• The Twins
• The Corpse
• GOKURAKU (Heavenly Plateau)
• The River

moving image

moving image with interview

2014 (work in progress)

Concept by Yumino Seki

Presented by Yumino Seki (dance), Alison Grace (dance), Fabiola Santana (dance), Jamie Griffiths (led light research), Nick Weeks (sound), Gary Rowe (mentor) and Jim Roseveare

MANJUSAKA researched how to create a multidimensional experience, incorporating Butoh choreography, LED light installation, soundscape and guided viewing points in alternative space.  

The five choreographic sketches were developed together with light installation and sound-scape.

Fukushima Butterfly

The Twins

Manjusaka (changed to The Corpse)

GOKURAKU (Heavenly Plateau)

The Three Rivers (changed to The River)

The light installations used were;

2 x 10m RGB Led tapes (MS605050RGBIP65) 

1 x 10m Red Neon Flex (Super Colour Jacket Red 24DVC) 

A ring of 8 RGB Led lights embedded in the podium of 2.4 metres in diameter

'<MANJUSAKA> was an exhilarating ride. One moment we’re witnessing what feels like the last gasp of life inside a butterfly killing jar (subtle, intense and deeply sinister), the next we’re flung into a futuristic Blade Runner Tokyo cabaret show, complete with banshee screaming and a blazing light show. An enjoyable night out that was full of surprises.' Darrin Grimwood (author) 

moving image

Special thanks to; Arts Council England, Judy Parkinson, St Mary's in the Castle, Pulse School of Movement and Pulse Event Management,