PopUp Tearoom Series

By Yumi Umiumare

Tea ceremonies, installation and dance performance

The PopUp Tearoom Series is a performance installation. Audiences are invited to come and go throughout the session. Pop up performances in Yumi’s unique fusion of Butoh, physical theatre and spoken word alternate with serving tea to audience through the traditional and contemporary tea ceremonies, and invitations to participate in simple actions. PopUp Tearoom draws inspiration from two key aspects of traditional Japanese tearooms and tea ceremony, being ‘Su’ (bare) and ‘Ma’ (active pause).

The traditional Japanese tea-ceremony room has a small door under which people have to bow to enter and exit. This symbolises the fact that all people are born from, and return to, the same place, and inside the room, all were equal. Even samurai of the medieval period had to leave their sword behind to participate in the ceremony, stripping back the experience to the bare essence of being and soul. As long ago as the 16th century, tearooms were created in war zones, with the tea ceremony functioning to relieve emotional stress and restore social order. The deep sense of presence and silence afforded by the Tearoom offers participants time to pause and reflect.

The PopUp Tearoom is adaptable in its setting and duration; it can be performed in indoor or outdoor space, and can last between 1-5 hours per day.

We are particularly keen to discuss opportunities for collaboration with local professional performing and visual artists, and community, with PopUp Tearoom to make editions that respond deeply to place.

For further details and technical specifications, download our PDF here.