Susana Åkerlund (SU-EN)
SU-EN Butoh Company 1988-2003
activities, choreographies, projects led by SU-EN

2003
SLICE Pusterviksteatern, Göteborg, with Lee Berwick
Choreography Boneless, Cantabile Theatre school, Denmark
Workshop, Cantabile Theatre school, Denmark
Body and Mud, Sub Club, Copenhagen
The Chicken Project, Dansstationen, Malmö

2002
FISH and DEATH, Fylkingen´s Ljusfest, Stockholm, with Mattias Axén
M.O.O.P re-mix, workshop performance project, Haparanda
Open workshops, Haglund Skola
HEADLESS, Moderna Dansteatern, Stockholm
HEADLESS and workshops, San Francisco Butoh festival. With Lee Berwick/DIGI DUB
Summer Camp Event. With Eva Ceginskas Björkman and Sons of God.
Scrap - the Truck, Arvika festival. With Lee Berwick/DIGI DUB
Pulpa Paradox, directed by Gregor Weber. PUF festival, Croatia
MOOP - matter out of place, performance project BUTOH BREEZE, Fylkingen, Stockholm
HEADLESS - love on the other side, Malmö and Göteborg
Uppsala Cathedral, collaboration with Dodeca chorus
Workshop project, Cantabile 2 school, Denmark
Winter camp, Haglund Skola

2001
Corroscope, butoh unit GROTTO at Singlar, Stockholm. With Mattias Axén.
Re-furnishing by the Sons of God, re-mix by Hans T Sternudd, Pär Thörn and SU-EN, Fylkingen¹s Ljusfest
SU-EN & The Sons of God, improvisations at Hägersten
ATOMIC EVENT 2001, Thé Svedberg laboratory, Uppsala
Autumn Camp, Haglund Skola
FISH and DESIRE, London
HEADLESS - love on the other side, London and Belfast
FISH and LOVE, Amorph international performance festival, Helsinki
Daughters of God drive Chairs, Navinki international performance festival, Minsk
SU-EN butoh camp, White Russia
Art Caravan, mobil surprise event around Uppsala County
Summer camp Event, Haglund Skola
HEADLESS - love on the other side, PUF festival, Croatia. With SU-EN and Lee Berwick
The Scrap Project, opening of PUF festival, Pula, Croatia, workshop and collaboration project at Jadran metal
RECYCLE EVENT, at the Paper recycle center in Uppsala
Butoh Breeze, festival for butoh and performance art, Stockholm
YATRA, performance project at Butoh Breeze, Stockholm. Music by Lee Berwick
HEADLESS - cannibalism of society, and workshop, Basel, Switzerland
ATOMIC, Swedish Dance Biennal, Umeå
Workshop project, Haparanda and Luleå
GROTTO at Art on the Rocks, Jukkasjärvi
GROTTO at Performance Jam, Backstage, Stockholm
SLICE, body and computor event, Anatomical Theatre, Uppsala
SIB - , at Sigtuna stiftelsen. With Frank van de Ven
Workshop project, Cantabile2 school, Denmark
SU-EN winter camp, Haglund Skola

2000
Workshop, Cantabile2 school, Denmark
ATOMIC event, The Svedberg laboratory, Uppsala
HEADLESS, Galapagos, New York
ATOMIC and workshops, Seattle Butoh festival
ATOMIC and workshops, Vancouver Dance festival
HEADLESS, 7ax11d Interntional Performance festival, Toronto
ATOMIC, Blå Lådan, Stockholm
HEADLESS, Navinki performance festival, Minsk, White Russia
GROTTO participating in Rockopera Gods & Monsters, Uppsala
Observation group, Göteborg Dance and Theatre festival
SU-EN summer camp, final event, Haglund Skola
Butoh seminar, KIT, Copenhagen
Scrap - the Truck. PUF festival , Croatia. With Lee Berwick.
24-hour project with Stuart Lynch, Kanonhallen, Denmark
MINSK connection, symposium. Stockholm
DOA! The sound of an angry frog. Butoh Breeze 3, Fylkingen, Stockholm.
Garbage - celebration of International Dance Day, Uppsala.
BLISS, New York. With visual artist Ztsu
Workshop projekt, New York
ATOMIC at Dansstationen, Malmö
Veroid at Fylkingen
Midvinterljus, opening of festival, Helsingborg
Alien happening, Uppsala
Siblings at Aine Artmuseum, Finland and Fylkingen, Stockholm.
With Frank van de Ven and VLK M
Workshops, Haglund Skola & Haparanda
Participating in 12 Tiger/Anne Külper, Konstakademin, Stockholm

1999
Scrap Bodies at MAMU butoh festival, Germany
Workshops and SKIN happenings in Södertälje, Luleå and Haparanda
Research project ¹The Immortal¹ with Frank van de Ven, Buenos Aires
Celebrating International Dance Day with Grävskope-happening in 4 cities, Uppsala County
Container truck-happening at Uppsala Castle. With Skrotcentralen i Uppsala
Scrap Bodies at Plesni Teater, Slovenia and PUF festival, Croatia. SU-EN workshop
SKIN-happening with Amit Sen, Body and Sound, Arholma Island
Photo project Birdfarm with Maja Sandberg
SU-EN summer camp, final event, Haglund Skola
Street happening Nature in the City, SU-EN butoh workshop and Eva C-Björkman
Photo exhibition by Maja Sandberg, SU-EN performance project, Signum K-zon, Uppsala
Scrap - the Truck, with Skrotcentralen i Uppsala AB. Yard behind Balderskolan, Uppsala
Atomic at Skandiascenen, Uppsala. Music by Graham Lewis. Light by Svante Wärnsberg
Universal Body, film project with Gunilla Leander. Premiere at Uppsala Filmfestival.
Siblings, duo with Frank van de Ven. Spatial engineering by VLK, Amsterdam

1998
projekt GROTTO with Amit Sen. Ingvar Staffans, artwork. Upplands Väsby Artmuseum
ICE-MIX in Haparanda and Piteå and workshops
Skin happenings, events at Propaganda, Swedish Match, Edsvik konst & kultur
Scrap Bodies in Uppsala, Malmö, Helsingborg, Lund, M/S Stubnitz, Tokyo, San Francisco, Seattle, New York
EVENTA 4 International Art Exhibition, artistic coordinator and performer, Ekeby Qvarn
Vägvisare - poetry performance with J-B Lundén and Amit Sen, Vita Huset, Uppsala
Butoh advisor for Madonna video ¹Nothing really matters¹

1997
Tenjuku Nezumi with poet Satoru Kawamura, Tokyo.
BEAK!, Dansstationen, Malmö, SCENEN, Stockholm.
projekt GROTTO/rave with Digi Dub and The Phantasist, Västerås, Örebro, Stockholm. Sigtuna, Ratatosk seminar
Konstblot 1/EVENTA 4 symposium, Gamla Uppsala Högar
Workshop summer camp, Haglund Skola
projekt GROTTO and/h.e.r.l with ²Quageroh² Imazawa, Arvika festival, Lollipop festival
..shadows in bloom... Göteborg, Prague International Theatre Festival
Collaboration project with Frank van de Ven/Gregor Weber. Stockholm, Haglund Skola

1996
project GROTTO, Ekeby Qvarn, Kulturhuset, Arvika Festival, Stockholm Water Festival (happenings), Kulturnatten/Uppsala
Dans mellan-Rum 3, Uppsala Artmuseum
The Scaly Ones, Uppsala and Stockholm
Scaly Ones-the happening, Dansstationen, Malmö
Sagan om Fatumeh, with John-Bertil Lundén, Uppsala
Trans...it!, Butoh dance project, Germany and Russia
...shadows in bloom..., Uppsala, Malmö
Charila, SCENEN/Stockholm, Labyrinth/Copenhagen
Siblings, Prague International Theatre festival, SU-EN with Frank van de Ven. Milos Sejn, artwork

1995
Charila, Uppsala Dance festival
project GROTTO at Eventa International Art Exhibition and Århus festival, Denmark
Ex...it! European Butoh Symposium; workshop and performance
Dans mellan-Rum 2, Uppsala Artmuseum
Luna I, with Catherine Hennix, Stockholm
Charila, Århus, Denmark and Malmö. Workshop
Konfrontation performance project, M/S Stubnitz, Germany

1994
Baby Fantasy Box, Tokyo and Iwate prefecture
Mathém with C. Hennix (music and installation), Stockholm
Ningyo, Malmö festival, happening on a boat
Umu, Göteborg, Stockholm, Norrköping, Lund
project GROTTO starting, first performance in Stockholm

1993
Umu, Uppsala, Stockholm

1988-1994
Regular performances with GNOME in Japan

SU-EN Butoh Company
What is the Body? What is Art?
Dancer, choreographer and butoh artist SU-EN is pursuing these questions in her artistic activities. With roots in the Japanese Butoh and influence from conceptual and performance art the work is directed towards exploring the urgent and extreme situation of the contemporary body.

SU-EN was living in Japan between 1986-1994. She was for 5 years a disciple of Tomoe Shizune, artistic director of the Tomoe Shizune & Hakutobo butoh group, originally formed by the late Tatsumi Hijikata. SU-EN was a founding member of the student group Gnome where Yoko Ashikawa was teaching and choreographing. In 1992 SU-EN Butoh Company was founded in Tokyo as a daughter group to Tomoe Shizune & Hakutobo. SU-EN also has a licence in the Izumo school of Jiuta-mai (traditional Japanese dance) as well as a wide experience in various Japanese body methods and martial arts.

SU-ENs work might be described as a body where the human shapes have been erased. The body is urged to confront other living matters as well as the social, cultural and political situation around. A power in the body beyond the individual human power is aimed for. Images and fragments from nature, its shapes and conditions of living are present and presented. Simple and visual as the dance may appear, it demands a strong concentration from the viewer.

The activities are based in Sweden where the process of finding a nordic butoh body is in process. SU-EN Butoh Company is presently active in a wide area of performing; touring to festivals with choreographed pieces, site-specific happenings/art interventions and collaborations with different artists and musicians. Since 1994 performances have been created for and in shopping centres, nature art festivals, rock festivals, scrapyards, castles, trucks, boats and so on. SU-EN productions has been seen in Germany, Russia, Czech republic, Japan, USA, Argentina, Slovenia, Croatia, Holland, White Russia, Canada, Northern Ireland, UK and all Scandinavia. Open workshops or lectures are usually held in connection with SU-EN performances. Butoh unit Grotto is operating under guidance of SU-EN consisting of participants from SU-EN butoh workshops.

Haglund Skola, north of Uppsala, is since 1997 the home and work space of SU-EN Butoh Company. The old village school in the forest provides the space for SU-EN butoh training workshops and camps, artistic research and projects.

Participants:
Performance artist Pino Poison (Hr),
Visual artist Eva-Ceginskas Björkman
Composer Lee Berwick (UK)

SU-EN Butoh Company

Audience was guided through the Paper Recycle center and along the way took part in the various performances. Collaboration with Tobbe Alm, and fellow workers and truck drivers at the Center.

The event lasted for approximately 3 hours.

Sponsored by Uppsala City Cultural Counsil


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Foto: Gunnar Stening & SU-EN Butoh Company 1999.