hideto heshiki | serioushobbys

Lost Dog

Premiere: 31.03.2005
Theaterhaus Gessnerallee Zurich

Hideto Heshiki only starts working on a new piece once he has found a theme that leaves a strong physical impression, something that provokes a veritable reaction in the body. This approach enables the dancer/choreographer to cultivate a very personal approach to dance-making which guides his research on a new piece.

At the genesis of this piece stands 'being lost', the feeling of being a "lost dog", a state of mind to which Hideto Heshiki can closely relate following his decision to leave Japan to live and work in Europe. Since repatriating in 1999, in both his professional capacity as a dancer and in society in general, Heshiki has found himself constantly searching without knowing what he was looking for, nor in which direction he might be heading. With the theme of "lost dog" a new style of bodily awareness presents itself in his work. Hideto Heshiki exhaustively explores the possibilities of this state of mind, giving rise to a hereto-related new physical reality.

Looking for a way to transpose this experience into his newest piece, Hideto Heshiki turned to the Buddhist allegory of birth, death and rebirth as described in the Japanese children's story by Yoko Sano, "the tom-cat, who was reborn a million times". The title hero is so self-absorbed that he continuously gets reborn to ever-changing owners. One day however he falls in love with a female cat. When she dies after many years of shared existence, the tom-cat cries for the first time in his many lives after which he finds a peaceful death, thus breaking the chain of his reincarnations.

"My body screams joy, anger, hope and doubt into the space. However in the aftermath of this outpour, I sometimes manage to catch up with myself on another level", says Hideto Heshiki. On this level reigns tranquillity, humility and harmony, a state the tom-cat attains once he manages to cry for someone besides himself.

Hideto Heshiki owns the rare gift of creating silence through his dance. Extrovert, dynamic mouvement joined with supple and cautious lightness brings forth a dance of fascinating almost hypnotic intensity which leaves the spectator entranced.

Educated in Japan and living in Zurich today, Hideto Heshiki has worked in several European dance companies including Philipp Saire, Fabienne Berger and lately with Amanda Miller's much-acclaimed "Pretty Ugly Dance Company".

For "Lost dog" Heshiki chose to collaborate with artists who have a strong own artistic identity and who aren't merely swept along by the newest trends.

He continues his collaboration with the violinist Harald Kimmig with whom he has previously created the piece "A VOID" in October 2004 at the Tanzhaus Zürich Zurich. The dancers Bennie Bartels and Keiichi Otsuka along with the musicians Daniel Mouthon and Dieter Ulrich and the painter Thomas Hannibal complete the artistic team.

Concept / Direction Hideto Heshiki Artistic consultant Niki Good Dance Bennie Bartels, Hideto Heshiki, Keiichi Otsuka, N.N. Music Harald Kimmig, Daniel Mouthon, Dieter Ulrich Stage Thomas Hannibal Light Frank Dardel, Niki Good Production manager Noriaki Ikeda Produced by Hideto Heshiki Zürich, Theaterhaus Gessnerallee Supported by Präsidialdepartement der Stadt Zürich, Fachstelle Kultur Kanton Zürich