PRESENT TIME

In the famous phone booth of the TJP - Centre Dramatique National de Strasbourg, many of you have left voice messages, telling us powerful and sometimes intimate stories on the theme of migration. During Present timeAs part of our back-to-school ritual, we invite the public to discover these words in a joyful mix of readings, performances and discussions. It's a great opportunity to gather around stories from society.

Moving locally or globally. To leave. To part with someone or something. Leaving one's childhood home. We're talking about migration here, whether physical or internal, chosen or suffered. Because human beings, like birds and butterflies, also migrate, consciously or unconsciously. It's a fact of life. When instinctive, this movement takes on a poetic dimension. When it's forced, it becomes far more painful.

Far from being literal or simplistic, the testimonies we have gathered offer us, during this Present timeA multi-faceted vision of this theme. Travel, departure, exile. This journey promises to be rich and protean. A living and fascinating material, it is a source of inspiration for Kaori Ito's next creation, Migratoryscheduled for 2026.

Born in Japan into a family of artists, Kaori Ito trained at a very early age in ballet and then modern dance, before performing for leading European choreographers such as Philippe Decouflé, Angelin Preljocaj, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and James Thierrée. In 2008, she began writing choreography for various commissions (Ballets C de la B, National Ballet of Chile...), as part of collaborations (with Aurélien Bory, Denis Podalydès, Olivier Martin Salvan, Yoshi Oïda, Manolo) or for her own company, Himé, which she founded in 2015. Here she develops a cycle of autobiographical creations I dance because I distrust words (with his father - 2015), Embrase Me (with his partner - 2017) and Robot, eternal love (solo - 2018). In 2018, Kaori Ito returned to her Japanese culture, finally feeling empowered to make it her own. In 2020, she will create a piece for six performers, based on letters addressed to the dead, Dear all, and an installation in collaboration with Wajdi Mouawad and Théâtre de la Colline, La Parole Nochère. In 2021, convinced of the need to give a voice to children and their innate creativity, Kaori Ito created Le Monde à l'enversher first show for young audiences. In 2023, she was appointed director of TJP - Centre Dramatique National de Strasbourgto develop a project based on the cross-disciplinary nature of art, intergenerational collaboration and the involvement of children in the creative process. On her arrival, she created Waré Monofor ages 6 and up, about repairing childhood wounds. In addition to Moé Moé Boum Boum created with Juliette Steiner, this season she presents a Franco-Japanese creation Dance Marathon Express on exclusion and sacrifice.