The Space in Back of You

Q&A to follow both screenings with director Richard Rutkowski.

This visual and visceral documentary travels more than 20 years, from Japan to New York City and back to Japan again, in pursuit of the creative life of Suzushi Hanayagi, a powerful, innovative, radical Japanese dancer and choreographer. Constantly willing to experiment, Hanayagi challenged her art form and herself well into her ‘70s. From the discipline of early Japanese traditional dance to her decades of modern performance, this bold indominatable woman uniquely bridged East and West, choreographing works that expanded what classical or modern dance is and could be. Her life and influence is examined in detail with theater legend Robert Wilson who collaborated with her for over twenty years and found her suffering from Alzheimer’s in an old-age home. With cameras in tow, he re-connects with her, and he and his troup create their homage to her for premiere at New York’s Guggenheim Museum. The film is a final collaboration between a great teacher and her most renowned student.

PRECEDED BY: 
La femme à la cafetière
Robert Wilson | France | 1989 | 7min
Inspired by a painting of the same title by Paul Cézanne, Wilson wittily conveys the boredom of the figure within the frame, as she passes her time, nibbling sweets, unmoved by the changes around her until she must relinquish her place to a successor. Co-produced by the Musèe d'Orsay, INA, and La September, performed by Suzushi Hanayagi and Consuelo de Haviland.