Stories without words

DISCLAIMER: I am not and have never been a dancer myself (excluding the odd reluctant school performance), and so I am in no position to comment on the technical aspects of Kizuna Dance's Cultural Exchanges performance. But anyone in that audience will have recognised the amount of time, effort, and love that went into their choreography.

Through three dances, Kizuna brought fluidity and creativity to a range of subjects, from Buddhist sins to the struggles of 21^st century life. Using only their bodies and expressions they told story upon story with no words.

Most interesting to me were the choices in music and sound. House music flowed into Japanese folk songs, then transformed into sections of monologues and stand-up comedy routines. Though these choices were worlds apart, they seemed to culminate in a whole new world of Kizuna's own creation; a world that, in that hour and a half, made complete sense.

The complexity of the choreography was overwhelming, with many instances in which each dancer was delivering a different performance to those around them. However it became clear that every single step was calculated, with the smallest of touches, balances and moments of eye contact keeping the dancers together as one moving organism.

But above all this, seeing the dancers' sweat and bandages, hearing their breathlessness, and watching the unwavering concentration on their faces was perhaps more moving to me than the dances themselves.

Check out Kizuna's website here

Araminta Jürgen-Romrig

A Businessman, Buddhism and Break-Dancing

Kizuna Dance offered three unique and absolutely mesmerising pieces of exciting choreography on Wednesday 28th February.

The male dancers in the first piece 'Koibito' were on point. Their timing and energy never dropped and the emotion was believable the whole way through. The narrative of "a businessman struggling to balance his drive to succeed with a desperate desire to rediscover intimacy" was powerfully depicted through the blend of contemporary, hip-hop and house. 

I don't know how the company was able to feel so personal and understandable while they explored the three sins of Buddhism through their piece 'Three Poisons'.

As a dancer I was blown away by their levels of energy and strength through all three dances! I particularly loved the way they slipped into the breaking and house dance.

Kizuna are a company to watch out for. Don't miss out when they next come back to DMU! Come back soon, Kizuna! 


Bethany Shirtcliffe

A Festival of Discovery

The Cultural Exchanges Festival organized by De Montfort University is a great occasion and way of discovering more about writers, publishers, actors or even YouTube stars. As a creative writer, I've signed up for a range of events including the Demon Crew, Kizuna Dance and Imogen Sutton on 'Daughters of De Beauvoir.' 

Why not come and have a look for yourself and see what you think? Most events are free or very cheap, and those taking part include journalist Gary Younge,  actor Josette Simon, TV presenter Anne Davies, script-writer Vinay Patel and many more.

It's an opportunity to pursue your interests - or find interests you never knew you had. You can book tickets here.

Solene Fleming