Private Project

YOKAI

Trailer of the Butoh Dance performance by COMPAGNIA MATERIA PRIMA

  • Domiziano Cristopharo
    Director
  • Project Type:
    Experimental, Music Video, Short
  • Runtime:
    4 minutes 30 seconds
  • Country of Origin:
    Spain
  • Country of Filming:
    Spain
  • Shooting Format:
    digital full HD
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Domiziano Cristopharo

DOMIZIANO CRISTOPHARO:

Since 1990 he has perfectioned and expanded his technique studying "Psychology of form" with Nato Frasca' and by attending multiple courses and workshops, including Teatro Butoh, Solfeggio, Lyrical Vocal Technique, and Teatro Yoga with the likes of Memo Dini, Marcello Sambati, Simona Valli and Masaki Iwana (considered one of the greatest Butoh performers in Japan and the world, and one of the few masters who maintained the original spirit of Butoh). In the 1990s, together with actor/dancer Pino Grossi, he founded the Dance company CONTENITORI DI IMMAGINI with which he produced several shows for Italy and abroad. In 2002 he also create the music compilation TUTTI PAZZI PER RETTORE with which he obtains distribution at the European level, also reaching 12th place in the European chart.

He founded BLOODY CABARET in 2006, a company of SIDESHOW and BODY ART with which he landed in 2007 to the most popular show in italy: DIGNITA' AUTONOME. He will then remain in this show as a solist until 2015, performing in historical theaters such as the Quirino (Rome) Franco Parenti (Milan), Bellini (Naples) and of which he will be spokesperson on RAI 1 (the Italian National Television) together with actress Marianna Mercurio.

In 2022 he was a guest of the University of Amsterdam on the themes of the staging of Gender and Violence.

His character ARTE IN MUTANDE (with the lighted Frack and Top Hat, copied and imitated by many) will become iconic, landing on the posters of the show and opening Luis Vuitton's exclusive party for the opening of its ETOILE BOUTIQUE in Rome.
MATERIA PRIMA can be translated as PRIMAL MATTER and is spelled and pronounced the same, in both Spanish and Italian language.

Originating in the underground scene, the company MATERIA PRIMA was born from the experience of the Italian performer Domiziano Cristopharo, challenging perceptions with his works he's gaining an expanding number of dedicated followers. The company also carries out teaching activities, seminars, production and staging of performances in festivals, national and international theaters under the patronage of the Nuova Accademia per le Arti, Scienze e Professioni (New Academy for Arts, Sciences and Professions).

The company traces its roots - and motivations - back to the Ankoku-Butō movement active in Japan in the 1950s, mixing them with contemporary and experimental theater, resulting in performances with strong psychological/visual appeal: the performers' naked bodies, painted and covered with gold and mud, do not merely describe a state or an idea, but create a veritable chain of metamorphosis.

The videoperformance won the CLOSE FILM FESTIVAL and is an official selection at the PORTUGUESE LEMUR INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, the BELGRADE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, the KALAKARI FILM FESTIVAL in India, the QUEER MVMNT in San Diego and successfully presented at the EDINBURGH FRINGE Festival '23.

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Director Statement

"Before employing techniques,

the question of mind,

spirit or life must be considered.

When choreographing,

if you consider techniques and apply them to dance,

somehow in the process the most crucial part disappears.

If the technique comes first in dancing, well...

why should we bother dancing?

We don't depend on techniques to live.

I try to ignore techniques and structures and focus on the spiritual.

That's what I strive to achieve in my dancing."


Kazuo Ohno