Whether We Are

The video work Whether We Are features a classically trained ballet dancer performing movements inspired by Butoh, set against the backdrop of a falling sulfur-green and yellowish substance.

By blending these culturally distinct dance styles, the piece delves into the process of creation, exploring both bodily and cultural memory. Butoh, which emerged in 1959 in the aftermath of World War II, was developed through the collaboration of its key founders, Tatsumi Hijikata and Kazuo Ohno. Their work sought to create space for the expression of horror, trauma, and the absurdity of existence.

In Whether We Are, Nymann invites a ballet dancer to move through the lens of Butoh, confronting cultural differences and challenging traditional perceptions of beauty. This juxtaposition draws attention to the physical processes of the body and the echoes of traumatic experiences. The work becomes a moving meditation on how we process history, endure hardship, and find beauty in the act of becoming.

Butoh is short for Ankoku Butoh, which can be translated into "dance of darkness", a term used by the founder of the style, Tatsumi Hijikata. The term and dance style refer to the limitation of conscious movement and to the subconscious storage of bodily knowledge. Through the dance style, past experiences, which are stored within the body, can be channeled out as they are stimulated through bodily and cognitive movement.

For Whether We Are, Helene Nymann gave the dance no other instructions than the principes of Butoh. Instead the dancer was asked to translate his own past – his own bodily knowledge – into movement.

By incorporating dance and movement the work investigates how bodily memory is stimulated by textures, physical sensations and interaction. Through sound and movement, Whether We Are also explores how memory is created, stored and, crucially, how it can be accessed again.

Whether We Are has been exhibited at New Museum in New York in 2019 as part of their Screen Series alongside Head On My Dear and MOL. The Screen Series was organized by Helga Christoffersen, Associate Curator, and presents new video works by emerging artists. Read more about Whether We Are and the Screen Series at New Museum.