Saburo Teshigawara's 'Flexible Silence' Premieres at Théâtre de Chaillot

Japanese choreographer Saburo Teshigawara (born 1953, Tokyo) presents the world premiere of 'Flexible Silence' at Théâtre de Chaillot in Paris. The work merges choreographic and musical research, born from a renewed collaboration with Ensemble Intercontemporain and the Ondes Martenot sextet of the Conservatoire National de Paris. Teshigawara draws inspiration from composers Toru Takemitsu and Olivier Messiaen, whose music he describes as 'pure matter'—an encounter between air and nature, a site-specific sculpture offering a new perception of time. The piece explores silence as a meeting place with nature and the inner self, a manifesto of Teshigawara's dance style rooted in butoh and martial arts yet open to Western aesthetics. Six dancers perform with fluid, two-dimensional bodies, never making physical contact, in a spiritual quest. The cast includes Rihoko Sato (muse and assistant), Rika Kato, Eri Wanikawa, Junya Okazaki, and Italian Maria Chiara Mezzadri, alongside seven musicians from Ensemble Intercontemporain and six Ondes Martenot players. Teshigawara also designed the set, lights, and costumes—black leather shoes, straight-lined dark garments (except Sato's white solo), and stark lighting that leaves shadows. The abstract, refined, and hermetic dance culminates in a final scene where Sato and Teshigawara walk toward each other along a line of light, exchanging their first glance as she rests her head on his shoulder.