This is what it's all about.
ISSUI, the River Soul is a contemporary ballet inspired by manga that delves into resilience by posing a universal question: what is the right path to choose—staying in the comfort of the known or venturing into the unknown? Using the image of a constantly flowing river, the piece shows how embracing life’s trials and discomforts can ultimately bring transformation, a sense of freedom, and unexpected joy.
Through her personal experience of a ballet dancer career cut short by a physical accident, the choreographer has, in a cathartic impulse, written this ballet about that universal feeling of injustice which finds no other outlets than acceptance and rebirth. Inspired by the rhythm and dreamlike quality of manga narratives, she chose to blend these two artistic worlds and let herself be surprised by the imaginary birth of this encounter.
She invites you to share this journey, hoping it will be as moving for you as it is for Runpang, Tayane, and Alicia, who will perform Issui.
My project is special because ...
This dance piece brings together different worlds that don’t usually meet.
It connects ballet and contemporary dance — structure and freedom, control and release, feeling enhanced by a motion capture system, which allows the body to go beyond itself. What the audience sees is not only a dancer, but also an extension of their emotions. A second presence appears, like a reflection of inner thoughts, doubts, or possible paths.
This creates a space where the visible and the invisible exist together. What we feel inside becomes something we can see.
By combining movement, emotion, and technology in a simple and sensitive way, this performance invites the audience to recognize themselves in it.
It is not only something to watch, but something to feel.
Why we need your help
A large part of this project is already supported by ZHdK University. This funding allows us to present the performance on the first three dates : 29th, 30th of April / 2nd of May.
However, it was a long process of writting, production & rehearsals and I hope that we could present « Issui, The River Soul » on more than three dates. To give all the chances by our side for that, we have to go a step ahead in the technical realisation and the content creation : in particular, your help will give me the means to complete the motion capture system and use it to its full potential in the performance, rather than only partially.
We are still missing 2,000 CHF :
Scenography creation = 600 CHF
Motion capture technology = 600 CHF
Music composition = 500 CHF
Libretto : design & print = 300 CHF
This additional support would make a real difference: it would allow to fully develop the piece and give the potential to present it on more than three dates.
Any additional contributions will go toward the dancers’ salaries, who really deserve it, and today are underpaid, and to the choreograph who went to Kyoto and meet the team of Manga Museum for choreographic research.
Thank you for your help and meet you at the Buhne A Theater at Gessnerallee on the 29th of April.
All donors are welcome to attend and are warmly invited to the premiere. You will receive all detailed information soon after the donation.
