About us
OKARUKAS is the only dance theatre company in Lithuania, which enriches contemporary dance & theatre techniques by butoh practice, hence creating a unique style with very distinct aesthetics and philosophy. OKARUKAS is being recognizable for its interdisciplinary & usually site-specific approach with raw energy, which is characteristic to the performance art, and strong visually and conceptually.
Phil Von (French composer and performer) and Sakurako (Lithuanian born visual artist residing abroad for 20 years) were together artists in residency in Paris for 3 years leading a dance theatre troupe “Re-United Now-Here”. In 2017 Sakurako & Phil Von moved to Vilnius launching OKARUKAS, with a team of young generation Lithuanian actors and dancers united by butoh practice, forming a nucleus of the company.
Sakurako
Sakurako is an artist, performer and choreographer/director working worldwide and mostly in situ. Currently she lives & works in her hometown Vilnius after 20 years spent abroad, leading dance-theatre company Okarukas as an artistic director and choreographer.
Although Sakurako was trained as a conceptual & visual artist, she also has been practicing martial arts and various dance and movement techniques after graduating from Fine Arts (Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam) in 2008. She studied tradition Japanese Noh theatre and contemporary dance butoh with various masters in Japan. She also has a pedagogy degree and teaches butoh at Lithuanian Music and Theatre academy and teaches art and theatre/dance and gives workshops worldwide.
Sakurako creates live performances balancing on the edge between performance art, theatre and dance. The works are conceptual with strong visual elements where the main focus is on presence and the authenticity of movements and gestures. Human condition is the main subject matter of her works as an ongoing investigation of the body/mind/spirit phenomena.
Sakurako presented works at various venues worldwide: Palacio De Bellas Artes (Mexico City), Le 104, Le Cube, Théâtre du Temps, (Paris), OT301, Paradiso, Oostblook Theatre, Oude Kerk (Amsterdam), Mažasis teatras, Menų Spaustuvė (Vilnius), SCCA Center for Contemporary Arts (Ljubljana), Äkkigalleria (Jyväskylä), UrBANGUILD (Kyoto), Cultuur Centrum (Mechelen), Musée des Beaux-Arts (Limoges), etc. She participated in various festivals: Nuit Blanche (Paris), Aura (Kaunas), New Baltic Dance, (Vilnius), Juli Dans (Amsterdam), Rappongi Art Night (Tokyo), Festival d’Aurillac (France), Pukkelpop (Belgium), Red Dawns, City of Women (Slovenia), Gogol Fest (Ukraine), “Exit!” Schloss Broellin (Germany) and Venice Art Biennale’11 (Italy).
Okarukas
Okarukas is a project-based dance-theatre company based in Vilnius (Lithuania).
Sakurako is teaching her technique and training numerous actors and dancers of different nationalities (French, Spanish, British, Lithuanian, Latvian, Italian…) which performed for some of the creations of the company.
Phil Von is sharing his long past experience as leader of performance group Von Magnet and his years of writing music and performing for ballets companies in Germany as well as performance, contemporary and theatre companies in France. He has been creating music and writing most of the soundtracks for the company Okarukas, his “made to measure” composing method serving each piece in a very specific and uncompromising way.
Okarukas has already presented works at main and alternative dance/art events and festivals in Lithuania as well as abroad, such as Hull Dance (UK), Vides deja (Latvia), Aura (Kaunas), PlArtforma (Klaipėda), New Baltic Dance, Culture Night, ArtVilnius, Loftas Fest, nowJapan… (Vilnius), Pastatai Kalba (Panevežys), Ir ežeras turi ausis (Šiauliai), Land of disobedient (Nida), Yaga, Menuo Juodaragis, Devilstone, etc.
The company performed in car parks, courtyards, shopping malls, forests, public parks, art galleries, museums, halls, factories and theatres. In their repertoire are featuring 12 pieces:
“Hereafter”, “Senseless”, “Dolls”, Nowhere”, Spells”, “Eiti Ramybėn”, “Birds”, “Time Machine”, “Not a Love story”, “Clash”, “Singularities”, “Meat Factory”.
Some of the company’s productions has been partially supported by Lietuvos kultūros taryba