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About 4RUDE

The company 4RUDE was founded in 2005 by Hikaru Inagawa and Maco and since then has been on the road worldwide with their productions.

4RUDE is looking for an ideal form of expression and invents a spectacle without words. From elements of the theater and the butoh arise individual pieces of bodily movements that spring from innermost experiences. They have been developing this way of working and their vision for years, looking for a way into the deep, creating a unique stage language. The home base of the company is Berlin.

Chronology of performances (2005~2023) 

  • Jul.2023 "Empty Stare" Theater im Delphi (Berlin Germany)
    Mar.2023 "Hommage an Nosferatu” Scharf-Gerstenberg Collection  (Berlin Germany)

    Sep.2022 Butoh-Fu “Hans Bellmer” Studio2 des ITI (Berlin Germany)

    Aug.2022 "Schatten der Ungewissheit - Francisco de Goya-" Scharf-Gerstenberg Collection  (Berlin Germany)

    Nov.2021 “Das Sein - RUINEN -” 
Theater im Delphi (Berlin Germany)

    Nov.2019 “Das Leben eines Narren” 
Theater im Delphi (Berlin Germany)

    Jul.2019 “La Malata Prima Donnna”
 Church of La Fattoria di Tatti (Italy)
    Jun.2019 “Schattentor”
 Acker Stadt Palast (Berlin Germany)

    Mar.2019 "4RUDE Presents/ New Butoh Artist Serie 01“
 Tatwerk Performative Forschung (Berlin Germany)
    Nov.2018 “Lichtblitz”
 Theater im Delphi (Berlin Germany)

    Jan.2018 “Crime and Punishment”
 Acker Stadt Palast (Berlin Germany)

    Jan.2017 “CAPTURING A WHITE BIRD.THAT IS ALL THE SAME AS CAPTURING THE BLUE SKY” 
Acker Stadt Palas (Berlin Germany)

    Jul.2016 “Die Legenden von TONO”
ACUD Theater (Berlin Germany)

    May.2016 “CAPTURING A WHITE BIRD.THAT IS ALL THE SAME AS  CAPTURING THE BLUE SKY” 
Performing Arts Festival 2016, Tatwerk Performative Forschung (Berlin Germany)
    Apr.2016 “Züg-Züg-Züge nach HIROSHIMA” 
Solo-Butoh-Abend
ACUD Theater (Berlin Germany)

    Mar.2016 “CELLuLOID” Collaboration with co.Kaseki Dock11 (Berlin Germany)
    Jan.2016 “CAPTURING A WHITE BIRD.THAT IS ALL THE SAME AS  CAPTURING THE BLUE SKY”
 Acker Stadt Palast (Berlin Germany)
    Nov./Dec.2015 Work in Progress “CAPTURING A WHITE BIRD.THAT IS ALL THE SAME AS CAPTURING THE BLUE SKY” 
Tatwerk Performative Forschung (Berlin Germany)
    Jul.2015 “Die Legenden von TONO”
 Studio2.Meime Centrum Berlin (Berlin Germany)
    May.2015 “Die Legenden von TONO”
 Butô Festival 16ème Edition/Espace Culturel Bertin Poirée (Paris France)

    Jan.2015 “Die Legenden von TONO”
 Theaterhaus Berlin Mitte 003 (Berlin Germany)

    Oct.2014 “Die Legenden von TONO”
 Acker Stadt Palast (Berlin Germany)

    Jun.2012 “Tokyo Poodle”
 dOCUMENTA13 by invitation of Critical Art Ensemble (Kassel Germany)

    Feb.2011 “SILENCE”
 Theater X (Tokyo)

    Jan.2010 “Saihou no Hito (The Man from the West)”
 Theater X (Tokyo)

    Jun.2010 “Cherry Peril” Theater X International Dance&Theater
FestivalIDTF2010 Theater X (Tokyo)
 
    Jan.2009 “Smile of Gods” Theater X (Tokyo)

    Apr.2007 “Birth of Japan (from A Record of Ancient Matters)” Missions (Tokyo)

    Sep.2007 “Birth of Japan: Chapter 2” Performed in two cities in Indonesia

    Dec.2007 “Svidrigailov/ Crime and Punishment” 
Theater X(Tokyo)

    Dec.2006 “Katerina Ivanova/ Crime and Punishment” Musashino Performing Arts Theater (Tokyo)

    Dec.2005 “Crime and Punishment”
Musashino Performing Arts Theater (Tokyo)
                
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Maco    


            
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    Artistic director/ co-Founder/ Choreographer/ Butoh artist/ Actress
    
                        
    4RUDE
                
        
            
    

            
            
    Born in Kamakura, Japan. She began her artistic career in 1980s. In 1992 she received Butoh lessons from Kazuo Ohno. After that she performed many solo pieces in Tokyo. From 1999 to 2006, she was a member of the Ku Na'uka Theatre Company and played main roles. Since 2005, she has studied Butoh under Yukio Waguri.  In 2005, she co-founded 4RUDE and has appeared in all of their performances and choreographed. Since 2013, she lives in Berlin. “Maco” is her artist name.
    
            
        
    
    
    

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Hikaru Inagawa    


            
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    Artistic Director/ Founder/ Director/ Choreographer/ Butoh artist/ Actor
    
                        
    4RUDE
                
        
            
    

            
            
    Born in 1974, in Wakkanai, Hokkaido. Studied philosophy at Sophia University. From 1998 to 2004, he was a member of the Ku Na'uka Theater Company. With this group he performed all over Japan and worldwide. Under Satoshi Miyagi, he studied the traditional Japanese art of acting based on the Suzuki method. In 2005, he cofounded 4RUDE. 4RUDE is a performing arts unit that aims to find alternative ways; acting without words and dance based on inner experience instead of body movements. 4RUDE performs works in Tokyo and overseas. Since 2011, Hikaru has studied Butoh under Yukio Waguri. Since 2013, he lives in Berlin.
    
            
        
    
    
    

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Performers 

Adina Mohr, Rareș Grozea, Nile
    


        Theater-Butoh by 4RUDE    
Our artistic creation is based on the concept of "dance of darkness" developed by the founder of Butoh Tatsumi Hijikata, because "Butoh is like a dead body standing upright with all its strength." By going back to this root understanding of Butoh, something is dared that rarely happens in the European developments of this art form: showing narratives and imaginary spaces that nobody wants to see. One could say that in European Butoh "the darkness" is often left out, neglected. We, on the other hand, want to illuminate exactly this dark side, and thus come even closer to the reality of human existence.


Butoh breaks with the tradition that sees dance as an "art of movement" and can rather be defined as an "art of presenting the existence of the body". In relation to music, as with other forms of contemporary expressive dance, the focus is not on the rhythm of the music, but on the feeling that the music evokes.


Like theater, Butoh originated in the contexts of words and images. In Butoh, however, everything focuses rather on the quality of time and plays with it in a very consistent way. You might say that time passes horizontally during a play, while Butoh looks for the vertical alignment of the timeline to experiment with.


Our work began in the theater. From theater we came to butoh and have been working for years on an original form we call theater butoh. We use techniques and trainings from Japanese theater, such as the Suzuki method, among others, and combine them with Butoh techniques in our productions. We focus on the body and on playing without language. In this way, we try to overcome the limits and restrictions of theater and butoh at the same time and go in search of alternative ways of expression.


Hikaru Inagawa (June 2019)