The new, the next, the solo created now, in our times.
The solo alone – to see what can often only be seen alone.
The lone voice – not in the wilderness but in the modern place and state…. …confused,
angry, fearful……..insightful, observant, serene.
The single person acts and listens to the single person and the gathered crowd.
KOAN: a paradoxical anecdote / a riddle without a solution… origin in Japanese: a matter for public thought.
The solo “KOAN” created by Julyen Hamilton is a beautiful reflection on a solitary journey
within the contemporary landscape where individuals search for clarity and understanding within themselves amidst the noise and chaos. It speaks to the paradoxical nature of our
existence, oscillating between confusion and insight, rage and serenity, as we are watched
by the collective consciousness around us. Like a traditional koan, it invites contemplation
and introspection by encouraging us to explore the depths of our own minds and
perceptions.
Koan, as a traditional form of spiritual practice in Zen Buddhism, is used to encourage deep
introspective thinking and achieve enlightenment. It usually consists of paradoxical stories,
sentences, or questions that have no direct solution or logical answer. The
goal of a koan is not to be understood rationally or intellectually but to transcend
conventional ways of thinking and reach a direct experience of enlightenment or
“Awakening.”
KOAN ́has been performed in Spain, France, Mexico, Belgium, Greece, Portugal, Bulgaria, Italy, Serbia, the Netherlands, Argentina, and Uruguay.
“My work is to make performances – solo and company pieces – with dancers, musicians
and other performers – and my process, among other things, is to create on the stage at
the moment… to compose at the moment… to improvise…”
Julyen Hamilton
The new, the next, the solo created now, in our times.
The solo alone – to see what can often only be seen alone.
The lone voice – not in the wilderness but in the modern place and state… …confused,
angry, fearful……..insightful, observant, serene.
The single person acts and listens to the single person and the gathered crowd.
KOAN: a paradoxical anecdote / a riddle without a solution… origin in Japanese: a matter for public thought.
JULYEN HAMILTON is a dancer / choreographer / poet / teacher / musician. He has been making and performing dances for 45 years throughout the world. He has made over 100 solos, as well
as 20 years of Company pieces and numerous collaborations with dancers, musicians,
and theatre performers.
Born and brought up in England, he trained in London in the 1970s, a time of radical
experimentation. He has been an exponent of innovative performance since that time. His
work is mostly improvised: he composes dance works instantly, as well as the texts that
often accompany them. His work with text is unique. It fuses naturally his long-term writing
practice with his refined skills in dancing.
When working with his company, ALLEN’S LINE, he directs dancers and lighting designers
to make and perform work through this same immediacy.
Since the 80s, he has performed constantly in close collaboration with many of the highest-quality musicians from all over Europe. (Barre Phillips, Fred Frith, Tristan Honsinger,
Michael Moore…) It is with some of these musicians that he gives readings of his poetry.
He is at present performing the solos ‘INTERVIEW,’ ‘HELD DEAR’ and “A KOAN for our
Times” performing with bass player Barre Phillips, Nuria Andorra, and Jordina Millá
amongst many others.
With his company ALLEN’S LINE, he has been performing “GOAT OCEAN” in Rome, Paris, Bruxelles, and France during 2023, and their new work “CHILD of DAY” has shown in Paris and Bruxelles during 2024 / 2025.
As a pianist, he plays regularly with Hamilton Carroll in Berlin and Brussels. Their first cd,
‘POINTER’ was released in 2016. His label, ‘BLUEDOG PUBLISHING.net,’ produces videos
of his performances on DVD, CDs and print. His new poetry album ‘Jack Gets Out of
Prison’ with bassist Wilbert de Joode was released in 2018.
Dance, Choreography, Text, Decor: Julyen Hamilton
Light Design: Ofer Laufer
Photos: Irene Occhiato, Phillippe Quinta, Arnaud Beelen
With the playfulness of a slightly zany monk, he fires off his gestural lines according to very palpable modulations of intensity, vibrating with ranges of accentuations, punctuations, suspensions, and relaunches. Very lively. His entire being would seem like the finger plucking the string of the great architectural instrument, whose entire volume enters into a moving resonance of the imaginary. A place lives, breathes, remembers, waits, projects itself. Gerard Mayen, Dance critique.
