Hardcore Girls

From the enthusiastic “Girl Power” coos of the Spice Girls to the tween empires of the Olsens, Hilary Duff and clan, “girl culture” has been one of the decade’s biggest cash cows. But a different take on girlhood surfaces this month when acclaimed Japanese director Shirotama Hitsujiya (recently recognized as one of “The World’s 100 Most Influential Japanese Women” by Newsweek Japan) brings her latest conceptual dance performance, CANDIES: girlish hardcore, to NYC. Having premiered in the U.K. in early 2006, CANDIES explores Japanese girlhood through an unconventional blend of dance and theatre—complicating the notion of girlhood by revealing the dark side of a time often assumed to be “full of sugar and spice and everything nice.” The show is performed by the all-female theatre company YUBIWA Hotel (pictured left), whose mission involves questioning and challending stereotypes of Japanese women through performance involving dance, text, mask and lush costumes. The spectacle is sure to be both intense (with an exploration of the “erotic, grotesque and violent” aspects of girlhood promised to be explored) and not something you’ll forget anytime soon.

September 14-16, Japan Society, 333 E. 47th St. (betw. 1st & 2nd Aves.), 212-715-1258; 7:30. $22/$28.