THE WORLD UPSIDE DOWN

Too spontaneous to be adults, the three characters summoned to the stage are also far too inhibited to be children. They exhaust themselves trying to answer the call and rise to the occasion: saving the world! A little helpless, a little ridiculous, they fail to transform themselves into superheroes. But are these extravagant figures, invented in the last century and still inhabiting our imaginations, really role models? Carried along by the breath of the children and the energy of the dance, the three apprentice saviors try to get back on their feet, to get rid of the superfluous, to bring out of themselves something more essential, more fundamental, lighter too. What if this was the secret to re-enchanting the world, to rediscovering the fantasy and freedom of childhood? Convinced of the importance of children's words and innate creativity, Kaori Ito has choreographed her first show for young audiences. To do this, she has collected children's confidences, using the Kamishibaï, a Japanese travelling paper theater for which she has drawn and written a story, read by Denis Podalydès. The house of secrets tells of a world turned upside down that only children's secrets can save. Like a ritual of passage, this Kamishibaï precedes the show's performance.

Dancer and designer for 20 years, Kaori Ito seeks to bring out a vital movement that connects bodies and brings into existence the void, the invisible and the sacred. Born in Japan into a family of artists, she studied classical dance from an early age, followed by modern dance in New York. A performer for over 10 years with major European companies, she felt the need to create her own company in order to develop her artistic approach and choreographic writing. She founded the Himé company in 2015. After an autobiographical trilogy, she returned to her Japanese culture, which inspired her to create, in 2020, the first piece in which she is not on stage. Convinced of the need to make children's voices heard and to give their creativity a place, in 2021 she begins creating with and for young audiences. At the crossroads of cultures and languages, currents, practices and disciplines, Kaori Ito is developing a hybrid artistic vocabulary and a creative approach based on contemporary rituals. Driven by the desire to carry forward a project that dreams the future with young people and gives it substance through art, Kaori Ito is dedicating herself to this wish in 2023 by taking over the direction of the TJP, Centre Dramatique National de Strasbourg. Her aim is to turn it into a transdisciplinary, intercultural and intergenerational theater that promotes the cross-disciplinary nature of art, the importance of children's questioning and their involvement in the creative process.