HONG KONG (AP) — Oscar-winning French actress Juliette Binoche says touring for her dance collaboration with Britain choreographer Akram Khan was so exhausting she’s unlikely to take part in a similar project again.

Binoche told a press conference Tuesday that working on the modern dance performance “In-I” was a great learning experience but physically taxing, joking that she thought about giving up “because it’s so difficult” but couldn’t because she signed a contract.

“I learned to bend. I learned to shut my mouth because as an actress I was commenting a lot about what I was feeling,” said Binoche, who won a best supporting actress Oscar for the 1996 romance “The English Patient.”

But asked if she would sign up for another dance project, the 44-year-old actress shook her head quickly and said, “I don’t think so.”

“I’m really enjoying it,” Binoche said, but adding, “I’m suffering.”

Khan, who has choreographed for Australian pop star Kylie Minogue and French ballerina Sylvie Guillem, said it was a refreshing experience working with Binoche because she had no formal dance training, likening her to a “blank canvass.”

“When I’m working with, for example, a ballet dancer, then you start from a reference of ballet. You start with a vocabulary and sometimes the knowledge becomes a curse,” Khan said.

“In-I,” which had its world premiere at the National Theatre in London on Sept. 18, is making its Asian debut in Hong Kong Wednesday as part of the Hong Kong Arts Festival before moving on to Tokyo, Seoul and Shanghai.

source: The Associated Press

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