Butoh-inspired dance meets pop-up-book aesthetics in New Works' interdisciplinary Impermanent Flower, May 27 and 28
Salome Nieto and Adam Farnsworth join forces on an ode to impermanence
Salome Nieto in Impermanent Flower. Photo by Carl Craig
New Works presents Impermanent Flower at the Roundhouse Performance Centre on May 27 and 28
AS A “DANCE OF the dead”, Butoh often refers to the image of a wilting flower—a symbol of impermanence and beauty, and the exquisite process of the bloom dying.
It’s a concept that’s inspired a unique new collaboration between dance artist Salome Nieto and performer Adam Farnsworth. Titled Impermanent Flower, the production presented by New Works weaves together Butoh-inspired movement with elements of storytelling and illustration.
Nieto and Farnsworth’s aesthetic was for the show was children’s pop-up books. Visual designer Natalia Renteria helps conjure the surreal storybook world, which finds Farnsworth in a top hat as the “Charlatan Man” and Nieto donning flamenco bata de cola ruffles to become the titular flower.
Nieto has taught and performed internationally, studying butoh with established butoh artists from Germany, Argentina, Mexico, Canada and Japan, and she's danced often with Vancouver's Kokoro Dance.
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