Sutra on Oct 29, 2025 | UCSB Arts & Lectures

“This unique, proudly imagined show takes the concept of cultural exchange to a whole new level.”  ★★★★★ The Guardian (U.K.)

★★★★★ “An enthralling, mind-expanding piece of theatre.” Daily Telegraph (U.K.)

Contemporary dance and ancient martial arts combine in this award-winning collaboration between Belgian choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, sculptor Antony Gormley, composer Szymon Brzóska, and 20 Buddhist monks from the Shaolin Temple in China’s Henan Province. Sutra is a breathtaking spectacle which explores the Shaolin kung fu tradition in a contemporary context. A cadre of monks perform flying kicks, backflips and shadow-boxing in a humorous fable about a European outsider entering their monastery. With clever set design and a specially-commissioned score, Sutra has been called “a brave, thrilling, elliptical piece” and an “odyssey into the mind of a Zen Buddhist” (The Telegraph, U.K.).