DESTINY, FATE, BLOOD. project funding

Hello.

My name is sawako ogo | disasterchaotic. I am a dancer and choreographer based in Berlin, originally from Tokyo, and previously based in San Francisco where I lived and worked for nearly 8 years. I am reaching out to ask for support for a deeply personal project that I’ve been working on since arriving in Berlin two years ago.

DESTINY, FATE, BLOOD is an evening-length performance that blends original movement, text, and sound design. The piece is based on a very personal image: my grandmother dying from excessive bleeding, and her attempt to clean the blood around her as she passed. This image symbolizes a conversation I have had with myself for many years: What are the forces in our lives we can control? And what are the forces we must surrender to? This image and conversation resurfaced when I was forced to abruptly leave San Francisco, the city and community I called home, due to circumstances outside of my control, many of them connected to my pursuit of art.

I am working alongside a generous team of local artists in Berlin who, despite the grim funding situation for independent artists, value this project and are offering their performance, directing, writing, and design skills. I am beyond grateful for these people and am doing my best to fairly compensate them.

To help me do this, I am raising €6,000 + platform fees to cover:

For one month of intensive rehearsals, plus set design consultation.

To cover lighting and tech support for the performance.

To build a minimal, safe set that can handle liquid elements central to the piece.

This budget is the absolute minimum needed to honor my collaborator’s time with symbolic compensation and to realize the design elements of the project. Photographers, videographers, and staff are already contributing their time in-kind.

If you live outside Berlin, I’ll be happy to share a private link to the final performance video so you can watch the work wherever you may be.