The Unbearable Darkness

A striking portrait of Tatsumi Hijikata, the legendary founder of Japanese Butoh dance.

Tatsumi Hijikata, the founding legend of Butoh dance in Japan in the 1960s, stands at the centre of this performance. His ‘dance of darkness’ is seen by choreographer Choy Ka Fai as a form of resistance by the Asian body against the perceived superiority of Western dance cultures. Choy interviewed the spirit of Hijikata through an ‘itako’ (Japanese shaman) and invited it to collaborate in the creation by asking questions like: Can we imagine a posthuman choreographic future that transcends cultural, spiritual and virtual boundaries? What is humanly impossible and ghostly possible?

Being part film travelogue, part motion capture choreography, and part paranormal encounter, The Unbearable Darkness seeks to respond to these questions.

This performance is connected to the central theme of STUK’s 2026–2027 dance season: algorithms.

For the first time, STUK’s dance programme is built around a common thread running throughout the season. The theme of algorithms recurs across several performances. These performances help us understand what algorithms are and what they do. They not only showcase the latest applications of (digital) algorithms in the arts, but also actively contribute to the ongoing debate surrounding them.

Dive deeper into the performance

During an artist talk on 16.03, choreographer Choy Ka Fai will take you into his unique, spiritual creative process. More info soon.

concept, documentary & direction Choy Ka Fai choreographic presence & paranormal performance Tatsumi Hijikata dramaturgy Tang Fu Kuen dance engineering, motion capture & performance Neji Pijin research, vocal & translation Tomoko Inoue visual design & technology Brandon Tay music Raffael Seyfried costume design Rie Usui lighting design Ray Tseng production manager Yap Seok Hui, Art Factory project manager Yoko Kawasaki company manager Mara Nedelcu co-produced by tanzhaus nrw and Kyoto Experiment with support from Kunststiftung NRW Germany, the NATIONALES PERFORMANCE NETZ co-production Fund for Dance, which is funded by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media. For tanzhaus nrw this commission is part of MOCCA – Motion Capturing Creative Area, a project by Hochschule Düsseldorf, Fachbereich Medien, LAVAlabs, Velamed GmbH and tanzhaus nrw, supported by EFRE. The research process is supported by TPAM - Performing Arts Meeting in Yokohama, The Saison Foundation, The Japan Foundation Asia Center and Hijikata Tatsumi Archive at Keio University Art Center