Mirai Moriyama x World-Renowned Choreographer Alan Lucien Øyen Create the Impact of Quiet Dance. The Acclaimed Work "STILL LIFE" That Swept Festivals Across Europe Comes to Japan, Its Place of Creation, in June 2026.

"Dance for thought"

―The Guardian (UK)

"A faint hope in the midst of chaos"

―Göteborgs-Posten (Sweden)

In June 2026, Kobe Bunka Hall (managed by the Kobe City Cultural Foundation) will collaborate with Yokohama Red Brick Warehouse No. 1 and Shizuoka Convention & Arts Center Granship to present "STILL LIFE" by Alan Lucien Øyen, one of the most acclaimed directors and choreographers in contemporary performing arts.

This work is a dance piece written by Øyen, who has created works for the Pina Bausch Wuppertal Dance Theater and the Paris Opera Ballet and has won numerous international awards, specifically for the exceptional performers Mirai Moriyama and Daniel Proietto. It premiered globally after a residency in Kobe in 2024. Subsequently, it toured major festivals across Europe, including the Venice Biennale, receiving extremely high praise from various media for its "fusion of astonishing physical expression and theatrical direction." Now, the long-awaited tour in Japan, the place of its creation, will take place.

【What is "STILL LIFE"?】

A painting of waves shimmering beyond the smoke. The voices of a chorus wearing masks reminiscent of branches and roots. The bodies and whispers of two dancers quietly resonate through the space.

"STILL LIFE" is a dance work that re-examines the relationship between humans and nature.

Direction, choreography, and text are by Norwegian artist Alan Lucien Øyen, a world-renowned choreographer who has also created works for the Pina Bausch Wuppertal Dance Theater and the Paris Opera Ballet. The performers are Mirai Moriyama, from Kobe, and Daniel Proietto, an internationally acclaimed dancer from Argentina. The stage, where butoh-like physicality, minimalist movements, silence, and whispers intertwine, quietly stirs the senses of the audience.

The title "STILL LIFE" simultaneously refers to a beautiful, motionless landscape and carries the implication of "nature in decline." Living surrounded by digital environments, have we perhaps lost our connection to nature and others without realizing it? This work quietly, yet certainly, poses that question.

This work originated from a residency in Kobe in 2024 and received high acclaim at various European venues, including the Venice Biennale. For this Japan tour, local choirs will also participate, creating the stage alongside the dancers. The work that soared to the world now returns to Japan, its place of creation. We invite you to experience the faint hope that flickers within the stillness at the theater.

©Andrea Avezzu

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