Butoh dancer Tsukasa Kamidate and vocalist/pianist Aya Ogawa visit the UK in April to play a handful of live events– the first leg of a short European tour. They will be collaborating with percussionist Charlie Collins and violinist Beatrix Ward-Fernandez for a series of Butoh performances accompanied by live improvised music. 

TSUKASA KAMIDATE dancer
AYA OGAWA voice, piano & little instruments
CHARLIE COLLINS waterphone & percussion
BEATRIX WARD-FERNANDEZ violin

TSUKASA KAMIDATE is a Butoh dancer from the northern Japanese city of Sapporo, Hokkaido. From 2010 she studied and performed with Kayo Mikami at Torifune Butoh-Sha, before returning to Hokkaido to study with Hal Tanaka, a leading performer of Hoppo Butoh, or northern school of Butoh. She has collaborated with the acclaimed dancer Yuko Yuki, and regularly performs solo. 

AYA OGAWA lives in Hakodate, Hokkaido. She has played the piano since 1968, has been involved in theatre since 1970, and while working as an educationalist has continued to write songs, organize poetry readings, and publish original picture books. These experiences inform her improvisations, which include work with Sabu Toyozumi, Peter Brotzmann, Deku Ogawa, and Butoh dancers Hal Tanaka and Eri Kamidate. 

BEATRIX WARD-FERNANDEZ is a UK based violinist and theremin player with an interest in all forms of improvised and contemporary composed music. Her trio has performed at the international theremin symposium "Hands Off", while her audio installation, “Castillo de Luna “ (for theremin & waterphone) was exhibited at the AC Institute in New York. Her music has been released on Discus, Found Property, Singing Knives, and Classwar Karaoke.

CHARLIE COLLINS is a creative percussionist, free polyrhythmic drummer, and sound artist, based in the UK. His early recordings for cult labels Industrial, Fetish, and Doublevision were followed by collaborations with many of the pioneers of free improvisation, while his interest in East Asian percussion and rhythm technique is evident in current work with komungo player Eun-Jung Kim, pianist Yoko Miura, and visual artist Bongsu Park. He is one of a handful of musicians to have played both Derek Bailey’s Company Week and Top Of The Pops.

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LAURIE TOMPKINS is a composer and co-founder of the Slip label living in Berlin. Released last year, his debut solo recording 'Heat, War, Sweat, Law' saw Tompkins deploy the rustle of IKEA bags, cracked pots, broken pipes and lots and lots of ritualistic yelling alongside smatterings of keyboards. The music here is harsh, noisy - and funny.