Locus Focus is the name of a series of performances that Min Tanaka began in 2004. The project is deeply connected to the space that the dancer occupies: various settings within our everyday environment, in various countries around the world. The movement forged by the setting in which the dance takes place changes every time. For this new phase of Locus Focus, Min Tanaka will improvise in different spaces he occupies. A rare opportunity to see this unique artist.

Updating July 2016

Min Tanaka was born in Japan in 1945 where he trained in classical ballet and modern dance for nearly ten years. He learned Butoh, this “dance of the dark body” from the founder of the practice Tatsumi Hijikata, and his future work was to be heavily influenced by it.

In 1974, Min Tanaka began creating his own pieces and developed an emphatic movement style emphasising the psycho-physical unity of the body. During this time, he collaborated with many intellectuals and visual artists around the world. More recently, he has regularly appeared in films.

Min Tanaka’s concerns revolve around the body and its sensitivity to the sensory as well as mental environment, the spiritual body or even the body-poem. All of which combine in Min Tanaka in a unique quest into dance and its origins. One of his recent projects, Locus Focus, is consistent with this approach, primarily based on listening and an extreme attention to both time and space.

Further information

www.min-tanaka.com

Since 2001, the National Center for Dance (CND) has been making recordings of its shows and educational programming and has created resources from these filmed performances (interviews, danced conferences, meetings with artists, demonstrations, major lessons, symposia specialized, thematic arrangements, etc.).