James Cousins Company's "Without Stars" and "There We Have Been"

Wazzup Pilipinas!

"There We Have Been" focuses on the first half of Murakami’s novel, wherein two dancers enact the development of relationships between the novel’s protagonist and his late best friend's girlfriend. This duet sees English performers Aaron Vickers and Lisa Welham intensely folding, wrapping and balancing, with the female character never once touching the floor.

"Without Stars" tells the other half of the story. Framed from the male protagonists’ point of view, the piece for three dancers tells the story of a man on the brink of losing the life of his love. The dance piece features international contemporary dancers Albert Garcia (Spain), Chihiro Kawasaki (Japan) and Georges Hann (UK).

James Cousins trained at the London Contemporary Dance School (LCDS), graduating in 2010 with a first class honors degree. As a performer, major highlights of his career are dancing for the international tour and film adaptation of Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake and performing for the 2012 film Anna Karenina starring Keira Knightley and Jude Law.


As a choreographer, Cousins has created numerous works that have been performed throughout London and abroad to great acclaim. In August 2011, he became the first winner of the inaugural Matthew Bourne’s New Adventures Choreographer Award. "There We Have Been" was the resulting showcase piece from the said award.