A proper spectacle! A truly international cast (Japan, Portugal, Poland, UK, Germany) of 6 top-flight improvising musicians, a composer, a video artist and a dancer, all working together to tell the story of a journey through life. The dancer plays the lead, and the musicians are all characters in his life - friends or adversaries - as he tackles the ups and downs, twists and turns of his life. Combining elements of Butoh dancing, free improvisation, modern composition, electronics and live video work, this immersive piece will definitely be show to remember!!
Shepherds of Cats Shepherds of Cats are the improvising musicians involved in this work. A plethora of instruments, found sounds and moving images allow them to layer contrasting sounds to create haunting and mesmerising soundscapes. Bells chime, bows scrape, moans and groans weave in and out; found and synthesized sounds intermittently warm the pieces sonically while their collaborations with video artists add visual dimension to their intriguing performances. In 2015 and 2017 Shepherds of Cats toured Germany and UK to play concerts in places such as at Kreuzung an St. Helena for In Situ Art Society in Bonn, Das Gespinst in Essen, MK Gallery in Milton Keyens, The Kazimier Gardens in Liverpool and the legendary Cafe OTO in London. They colaborate closely with Manchester-dwelling saxophone swinger and Tombed Vision Records headmaster David McLean, german trombonist Gunter Heinz, japanese pianist Ayako Ogawa, composer and Lisbon experimentalist Pascal Ansell AKA Panelak. Maciek Piatek AKA VJ Pietrushka, experimental live video maker. In collaboration with their Japanese and Polish friends they created Butoh – Techno spectacle.
Shepherds are: Aleksander Olszewski - ethnic percussion Adam Webster – cello, voice Jan Fanfare – guitar, loops, voice Dariusz Blaszczak – synthesizers
Ayako Ogawa Pianist, educator and artist who lives in Hakodate, Hokkaido. She has played the piano since 1968 and has been involved in theatre since 1970. While she has been working as an educationalist she has continued to write songs, organised poetry readings and published original picture books. These experiences inform her improvisations, which include work with recognisable figures such as: Sabu Toyozumi, Peter Brotzmann, Deku Ogawa and Butoh dancers Hal Tanaka, Mushimaru Fujieda and Tukasa Kamidate.
Mushimaru Fujieda born in Aichi Prefecture of Japan, 1952. He began drama in 1972 and then belonged to drama company "Ishin-ha" in 1978-89. He later became independent performer from 1989. Thereafter he is a solo performer with numerous performances inside and outside of Japan. After receiving a highest praise from a poet, late Mr. Allen Ginsburg in N.Y. Mushimaru gave himself a name as the "Natural Physical Poet", and has produced with the unique style, pieces of dance work. He was awarded with the "Most Excellent Improvised Dance" the prize of Tobita Drama Award in 1997. His other activities have included: a mask dance-drama for Himalayan religious ceremonies, collaboration in theatrical presentations with musicians and most famously with the American poet Allen Ginsberg, appearance on stage at “Rainbow 2000” techno festival in Japan, performances with Finland’s master musician Eduard Vesala, appearance at the Juksan International Arts Festival in Korea and on television on the Kyoto Satellite Channel, producing and performing in "Asian Performing Arts Now” in Japan with dancer Edwin Lung and with the Korean company Paekche under Professor Sung-Sik Chang. http://www.notus.dti.ne.jp/~mushimal/E.top.htm http://thephysicalpoets.wixsite.com/tpp-official
Matylda Gerber Composer and saxophone player from Wroclaw, Poland. She is a regular to the jazz scene in her hometown as well as London, where she participated in projects such as London Improvisers Orchestra, Skronk and Exploratorio. Matylda also spearheads two musical projects in London, which focus on mixing compositions with free-jazz improvisations. In 2015, Matylda played at the esteemed Jazztopad Festival in her native city after which she was featured in the music portal All About Jazz. Establishing her career with the band Kolega Doriana, the group released an album in 2015 to positive reviews from The Free Jazz Collective as well as Redbull Tour de Polonia. https://soundcloud.com/matylda_gerber
Maciek Piatek Video artist based in the UK working mainly on experimental video projects & short films but also collaborating with various local and international musicians, exploring closely improvised and electronic scene. His films has been screened & exhibited both nationally and internationally in places such as: Art Gallery of SESI-SP in Sao Paulo, Babylon Cinema in Berlin and ICA in London, Arnolfini in Bristol, The Vienna Kunstlerhaus and The Embros Theatre in Athens. Vj Pietrushka shared the stage with artists such as Isnaj Dui and Ben Nigel Potts performing fully improvised live vj sessions and closely collaborate with Shepherds of Cats. http://maciejpiatek.tumblr.com/VjPietrushka
