At the center of the show are emoji, the funny and colorful smilies to which the expression of feelings in digital communication is delegated, and the doubt that their misuse impoverishes and hides real emotional expressions. If we use the laugh-out-loud smiley face in chat, do we laugh with it? What if we use the one that sheds copious tears? What face do we actually make?
But the real question at the heart of the work is: how can we recover our true feelings?
In K(-A-)O, Japanese choreographer Kenji Shinohe explores, through the body and digital technologies, how feelings are expressed on keyboard symbols. It is a performance that sets aside words to address the highly topical issue of "superficial communication," created by new technologies and used particularly-but not only-by the younger generation.
The artist won the Eolo Awards 2025 for creative use of different languages of the stage.