Le Tambour de Soie
Yoshi Oïda, Kaori Ito, Paul Lazar, Makoto Yabuki
The Silk Drum
Schedule
Friday, October 24, 2025
Saturday, October 25, 2025
North American Premiere
Performed in French and Japanese with English surtitles
Duration: 60 minutes
Inspired by the Noh play Aya no Tsuzumi and its modern adaptation by Japan’s great novelist Yukio Mishima, Le Tambour de Soie (The Silk Drum) strips the original fable down to its core: a human drama between an old man desperate to feel young again, and the beautiful dancer made complicit in his downfall. Originally a coproduction between the Festival d’Avignon and the Théâtre de la Ville, this North American Premiere features New York stage star Paul Lazar alongside the French-based Japanese dance artist Kaori Ito, interpreting a script by acclaimed French novelist and screenwriter Jean-Claude Carrière set to Makoto Yabuki’s percussive original music.
“Kaori Ito reveals a dance of madness, where gesture and music are used in a single breath, just beyond reach” — Belinda Mathieu, La Terrasse
Presented by Japan Society in partnership with Crossing The Line Festival
Venue
Event Pricing
$55 or $42 for Japan Society members
Children under seventeen (17) years of age must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian at all times and may not attend events unattended.
Kaori Ito
Kaori Ito (choreographer, co-creator, dancer) is a celebrated Japanese dancer and choreographer, based in Paris since 2003. She founded her company, Himé, in 2015. In the same year, she was awarded the Prix Nouveau Talent Chorégraphie by the SACD and made a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. In 2023, Ito was appointed as Director of the TJP, Centre Dramatique National de Strasbourg – Grand Est.
Paul Lazar
Paul Lazar (actor) is a founding member of Big Dance Theater, whose work includes commissions from the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the Walker Art Center, Dance Theater Workshop, Classic Stage Company and Japan Society. Mr. Lazar has appeared in The Wooster Group’s North Atlantic, Brace Up!, Emperor Jones and The Hairy Ape. Lazar has acted in over 40 feature films, including Snowpiercer, The Host, Silence of the Lambs, and Philadelphia.
Makoto Yabuki
Makoto Yabuki (musician) studied architecture and traditional Japanese music and is internationally recognized for his work writing music for theater. In 1993, he founded the Bamboo Orchestra in Tokyo, composed of twelve traditional Japanese percussionists and flautists. Mr. Yabuki performs at concerts around the world, composes new musical creations and runs numerous workshops in the Marseille region where he has been living since 1993.
Yoshi Oïda
Yoshi Oïda (choreographer, co-creator, consultant) is a Japanese actor, director and writer, based in France since 1968. Known for his work with Peter Brook, he also appeared in films by Peter Greenaway and Martin Scorsese and is the author of three books about acting.
Billing Credits
With Kaori Ito, Paul Lazar and Makoto Yabuki
Original stage direction and choreography: Kaori Ito and Yoshi Oïda
Production Consultant: Yoshi Oïda
Text: Jean-Claude Carrière (inspired by a traditional Noh play and its modern adaptation by Yukio Mishima)
Music: Makoto YabukiLighting: Arno Veyrat
Costumes: Aurore Thibout
Textile colors: Aurore Thibout and Ysabel de Maisonneuve
Collaboration on original choreography: Gabriel Wong
Collaboration on original stage direction: Samuel VittozProduction Credits
Original Production:
Production Maison de la culture d’Amiens – Pôle européen de création et de production, Compagnie Himé
Co-producers Festival d’Avignon, Théâtre de la Ville – Paris
With the support of Centquatre-ParisThis show premiered on March 2, 2020, at the Maison de la Culture d’Amiens, France.
Supported by FUSED, a program of Villa Albertine and Albertine Foundation.
About Japan Society
Japan Society is the premier organization connecting Japanese arts, culture, business, and society with audiences in NYC and around the world. Since the inception of the Japan Society Performing Arts Program in 1953, Japan Society has introduced nearly 1,000 of Japan’s finest performing arts programs to an extensive American audience. Programs range from the traditional arts of Noh, kyogen, bunraku and kabuki to cutting-edge theater, dance and music. The Program also commissions new works to non-Japanese artists, produces national tours, organizes residency programs for American and Japanese artists and develops and distributes educational programs.
Support for Crossing The Line
and The Wescustogo Foundation
L’Alliance New York’s programs are made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the Support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.
Header Image: Courtesy of the Maison de la Culture d’Amiens, producer of the show Le Tambour de Soie (The Silk Drum).
Kaori Ito headshot © Gregory Batardon
Paul Lazar performance portrait © Maria Baranova
Yoshi Oïda headshot © Sebastien Coindre
Makoto Yabuki © Courtesy of artist
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