so ma to

SO MA TO / 走馬灯

A New Butoh Dance Theater — Creation 2026

Just as the flame is about to go out, an entire life unfolds before the eye — once, and only once. The flashbacks of a lifetime.

Flickering. Shifting. Like pictures turning inside a paper lantern.

In Japan, this sacred moment carries the name of an ancient revolving lantern: 走馬灯 / Sōmatō. Two old women gather the pieces of their memories and let each one speak.

This is a non-verbal piece. The body becomes the language — slow, close, vibrant. Live music rises with the breath of memory, and the fragments come back to the surface one by one.

Inspired by the incantatory cinema of Hayao Miyazaki, SO MA TO weaves a quiet place where our everyday reality and the unseen world of spirits intertwine. — paper lanterns, distant lullabies, the face of someone who is no longer here.

Following the two old women, the past slowly opens. It becomes a room we can all step into.

A gathering of international artists. Rooted in Japanese soil, it speaks to the present — a non-verbal performance for every age, from children to adults.

Co-Directed by Sayoko Onishi & Claire Thill

Choreography: Sayoko Onishi

Composition & Live music: Emmanuel Fleitz

Performing: Jenny Beacraft, Claire Thill, Sayoko Onishi

Scenography: Gianluca Curulla

Light: Solène Gatheron

Production manager: Jill Christophe

A production by Independent Little Lies in coproduction with Kasemattentheater. With the support of Ministère de la Culture, Ville d’Esch-sur-Alzette and Fondation Indépendance.