takahiro yamamoto


Opacity of Performance_TakahiroYamamoto
Photography by DJ Schaller

NOTHINGBEING is a project initiated by choreographer Takahiro Yamamoto, and developed in collaboration with Samita Sinha, David Thomson, and Anna Martine Whitehead. This work investigates ways to embody the presence of nothingness and "being," breathing spaces that we could easily dismiss and considering possibilities for the unfiltered self. Based on philosophical and physical research on the approaches to nothingness as well as extensive discussions and reflections with participating artists about their own sense of existence in the society, their needs in life, and their embodied daily experiences, this work will invite the viewers to "be" in the space together as they witness the performers engaging in questions of not thinking, feeling, surrendering, transforming, conjuring, and forgetting. Placing three performers in the center, this project addresses the notion of nothingness and "being" from multiple modalities such as moments of highly physical movement, a communal meditation, and internal activation of sensory memories. How can we allow ourselves to shed our protective layers to feel our core existence? How could we unlearn together? What does the presence of nothingness and "being" feel like? In this multifaceted process, this project hopes to underline the value in nothingness to re-recognize the complex presence of our subjectivity, the consequences of forced dismissal/erasure in society, and the importance of our agency in nothingness to empower our way of “being.”


September 9-11, 2022 (premiere)| PICA's TBA Festival 2022, Portland, OR
May 18-21, 2023 | On The Boards, Seattle, WA

Created in collaboration with David Thomson, Anna Martine Whitehead & Takahiro Yamamoto
Thought Partner: Samita Sinha
Physically engaged by David Thomson, Anna Martine Whitehead & Takahiro Yamamoto

Sound Design by coast2c
Costume Design by Alison Heryer
Lighting Design by Jeff Forbes