German première

»Sound disturbance« – The samurai and his servant embark on a trip through time back to the age of Zen Buddhism. They wear traditional masks. Later, however, they change to the contemporary era with plain, dark costumes. Two musicians form a kind of frame for the dancers which plumb the secrets of time and the existence of the being. The quarter jointly explores the mystery of change and the present moment. Poetic, intense and tender moments alternate with abrupt forms and intimate, meditative mood full of tenderness.

With »Sho-bo-gen-zo«, Josef Nadj is drawing a direct line to »Shôbôgenzô« (»Treasury of the true dharma eye«), the primary work of the Japanese Zen master Dôgen, who lived in the 13th century.

Josef Nadj is one of the most renowned choreographers in France. He was born in 1957 in Kanjiža – a village in the Hungarian-speaking region of Vojvodina in the former Yugoslavia, which is now Serbia. He has directed the Centre chorégraphique national d’Orléans since 1995 and has taken the company to perform around the world. He presented »Comedia tempio« (»Temple comedy«) at euro-scene Leipzig in 1992 and »Entracte« (»Interval«), »Woyzeck – ou L’ébauche du vertige« (»Woyzeck – or the hint of vertigo«) and »Journal d’un inconnu« (»Diary of an unknown«) in 2008.

»With the small-format piece ›Sho-bo-gen-zo‹, Josef Nadj … is again assigning dance to an existential mission: between putting it to the test and sensual pleasure, one gives a purpose to one’s life by sublimating it. Every day has a few minutes of being purely in the moment« (Rosita Boisseau, Le Monde, Paris, 23.01.2010).