Never dancing alone. With Hana Umeda

A conversation with Hana Umeda, who presented at Konträr the performance RAPEFLOWER.

Hana Umeda is a Japanese-Polish choreographer, performer, and dancer. She is also a Natori (master) of the Jiutamai Hanasaki-ryu school.

RAPEFLOWER explores experiences of sexual violence. Umeda approaches rape as a transcultural weapon used to control women’s bodies. In a striking fusion of traditional Japanese jiutamai and contemporary performance, she portrays rape as a psychosomatic condition shaped by trauma, survival strategies, and the possibility of beginning anew.

Umeda leads the audience through an emotional journey within her own body, a site of injury and objectification, but also of liberation, exploration, self-determination, and resistance. The performance seeks a language beyond taboo and sensationalism, and asks whether the stage can become a space for emancipation and healing.