Bento

Bento is a work for 9 dancers that uses movement to describe the concept of the box, or the sectioned container, within a box. Throughout the past 150 years or so, visual artists such as Joseph Cornell, have created 3-dimensional art objects that are boxes with shelves or boxes within boxes. These sectioned boxes often have objects in them made by others. Bento will explore this concept by incorporating dance phrases made by others (with their permission) with newly made dance phrases, creating dances within a dance. Artists who donated or inspired parts of Bento include: Randy Duncan, Autumn Eckman, Nick Pupillo, Eiko & Koma and improvisational dance artists.

Bento premiered March 17 & 18, 2011 at Hamlin Park Theater to great audience and critical acclaim. See TimeOut Chicago’s Critic’s Pick.

And here’s an interview with Winifred Haun about Bento (and other things!) featured at 4dancers.org.

Bento (excerpt) from Winifred Haun on Vimeo.

GALLERY

Choreographed by Chicago Choreographer Winifred Haun , and Australian Circus Artist, Emma Serjeant, TrasheD combines Modern Dance with Contemporary Circus to tell the story of how humans have to come to clutter their lives with too much stuff, too many people and too many “things to do,” and how all that clutter keeps us from each other.

These photos are by Matthew Gregory Hollis, from the premiere in March 2017.