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Cultural Synergy
Japan Society presents internationally relevant arts season
Butoh artist Yuko Kaseki will be part of Japan Society’s 2009–2010 season (Photo: Piotr Redlinkski)
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In a constantly shifting international cultural landscape, artists must find a way to explore the differences and bridge the gap between national and artistic diversity. The Japan Society’s Performing Arts Program attempts to fulfill these objectives with its new season. Under the theme “Japan Transatlantic: Tokio–Berlin,” the 2009–2010 season uses artists and concepts from both sides of the ocean to explore the far-reaching influences of Japanese culture.
International artists in collaboration with Japanese artists based outside of Japan developed the Japan-themed performances in Berlin. The pieces all have a strong emphasis on the visual arts, often incorporating multimedia elements that reflect Japan’s technologically advanced culture. Reflecting Japan’s cultural roots, the season utilizes the individual viewpoints and talents of performers and artists to produce and interesting cultural synergy.
The season kicks off with heavenly BENTO, from the Berlin-based international artist collective post theater, founded by the inventive team of Japanese media artist Hiroko Tanahashi and director Max Schumacher. Based on the story of Akio Morita and Masaru Ibuka, founders of the Sony Corporation, heavenly BENTO incorporates live-generated projections, dance, text and real food in order to stimulate all five of the audience’s senses. The Japan Society’s proscenium theater is transformed into a boxing-ring-as-boardroom theater in order to tell the epic story of friendship, ambition and the boundless human imagination. The show runs Thursday, September 17 – Saturday, September 19 @ 7:30 p.m..
Next up is Ame to Ame (Candy and Rain), from the San Francisco/Berlin-based inkBoat and Berlin’s cokaseki. The hybrid butoh-dance piece is performed by Shinichi Iova-Koga, the part-Japanese founder of inkBoat, and longtime collaborator Yuko Kaseki of cokaseki—referred to as the Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire of Butoh. The piece was the winner of the 2005 “Best Ensemble Performance” award from the Isadora Duncan Dance Committee, and follows a complicated love story that goes from childish flirtation to sexual exploration. Making its New York premiere October 15–17, the performances will be followed by workshops led by Butoh artist Yuko Kaseki from October 23–31.
Presented December 3–5, there is no end to more by Bessie Award-winning American choreographer Jeremy Wade was commissioned by the Japan Society. The piece, incorporating text, animation, movement and video of manga (Japanese comics), takes a cynical look at kawaii (cute) culture. From the international bestseller Hello Kitty to the teenage doe-eyed love portrayed in anime, Wade explores the subversive negativity endowed in this culture, as it highlights the ethos of consumption. The piece was created with the help of an international team including Brooklyn-based Japanese manga artist/illustrator Hiroki Otsuka, Berlin-based video artist Veith Michel, musician Brendan Dougherty and architects Katja Mitte and Henning Ströh. Text is co-authored by Wade and visual artist/writer Marcos Rosales.
The season will conclude with the 13th Annual Contemporary Dance Showcase: Japan + East Asia. Always one of the most highly anticipated presentations in New York Dance, this year’s lineup includes Company Derashinera, led by mime-trained director/choreographer Shuji Onodera (formerly of Mizuto Abura), a performance entitled Omedeto (Congratulations) by the company KIKIKIKIKIKI led by butoh-trained Kitamari. The showcase will also feature the U.S. debut of Masako Yasumoto’s modern dance in her frenetic duo slap, pat, suck. Adding a different flavor, the hip-hop inspired, all-male dance company LDP (Laboratory Dance Project) from Korea will present the dynamic No Comment. Finally, Taiwan’s WCdance led by choreographer WenChung Lin, previously a dancer with Bill T. Jones, adds a sense of romance to the showcase with the dream-like Small Songs.