The Performing Arts Meeting in Yokohama 2014 took place from February 8th through the 16th. It coincided with the time of the heaviest snowfall that the Tokyo area has seen in several years. This complicated things a bit both for the organizers and for audiences, but luckily there was no need to suspend any of the shows in the program. I managed to go to Yokohama only one time during TPAM and tried to make the best use out of the few hours spent there.
RE/PLAY (DANCE Edit.)
The first performance I saw was RE/PLAY (DANCE Edit.), directed by Tada Junnosuke in collaboration with choreographer Kitamari. Based on a previous work with the same title by Tokyo Deathlock, the dance version of RE/PLAY is an interrogation of the meaning of dance. A background song is repeated several times and the eight performers have to execute the same choreography each time the song is replayed. The opening and the ending songs were repeated three times each, but in between it was only The Beatles’ “Ob-la-di ob-la-da” (I’m sorry I wasn’t inspired enough to count the times that this tune was played, forcing the dancers to do the same set of movements over and over again, but it must have been around ten times.) The interesting part was that, though the choreography was indeed the same each time, there was actually a gradual increase in the speed of the movements. This hinted at the way that the human body reacts when forced to repeat the same action over and over again. Endless repetition is unnatural for the living body, which responds through exhaustion. To the spectators, who were seated comfortably while watching this process of usage of the human body, it was enough food for thought. There was actually a moment within the performance, when the dancers stopped and just stood and looked at the audience. Being stared at by the exhausted performers for about three minutes in silence was a chilling experience.
Each performer has elaborated their own movements, so there are no two alike. Although each one’s individuality has founds its own expression, the dancers relate by confirming each other’s position and timing in the performance space. The overall sight is of a world where each individual can be himself or herself while taking part in the larger story of the community. This spirit is in accord with the concept of Symposium, the previous Tokyo Deathlock work, and as far as we can guess it probably is the defining trait of the theatre that Tada Junnosuke creates.
After seeing RE/PLAY I hurried up to the Yokohama Creative City Center, where An Exhibition called “Play” was taking place. Three artists united their efforts for this project: photographer Hamada Hideaki, designer Takizawa Kai and theatre director Shiba Yukio (mamagoto). Their idea of a “Play” was to have the spectator perform – within the photography exhibition (with the motto: “photographs are gifts to the future”), the visitor is asked to take pictures himself with a set of cameras placed there in advance; one can wear the several clothes exhibited, imagining how it would be to live the life of their previous owner; in the third exhibition, the viewer takes part in a quiet exchange of questions and answers. This collaboration was based on an open, interactive concept, inviting us to reconsider the idea of “performance”.
I was so absorbed by the exhibition that I forgot to take pictures of it, although it was allowed to! When I realized it, I was already on my way to the next venue, so there was nothing to be done. Though it doesn’t have any connection to anything, I’ll just post this picture from that evening in Yokohama instead. As you can see, the amount of snow was not to be trifled with.
Yokohama in winter
For the evening I chose the performance of mum & gypsy, “R and the weightless surges”. Although I mentioned this company several times on this blog, it was the first time I saw them on stage. “R and the weightless surges” is a story about the members of a boxing club. One of them commits suicide and it is suggested that he had been badly treated by the others. A very physical performance, with a high pace and a rhythmical choreography is used to describe the man’s loneliness and the ever growing darkness of the inner crisis that eventually annihilates his existence.
The already established trademark of mum & gypsy’s performance style is “refrain” – the repetition of movements and phrases. Upon receiving the Kishida Kunio Theatre Award in 2013, director Fujita Takahiro was criticized for his use of repetition within the script. However, as far as the performance is concerned, the “refrain” proves to be most effective in expressing a critical situation rising to a climax. The words and the movements might be same, but the degree of tension behind them and the way the repetition is executed differs each time, so in the end it is no repetition at all, but rather a spiral effect revolving with an increasing speed. It is within this spiral that human bodies and emotions are put under pressure, being constrained to change shape, whether they want it or not. The performance style of mum & gypsy is most impressive and I invite you to see it with your own eyes, by watching this fragment of a previous performance, K to mayonaka no hotori de “With K by midnight”:
I hope these few impressions about TPAM 2014 gave you an idea of how vibrant this performing arts festival is. I am already looking forward to the next edition.
~ Stories of the Mirror ~ 鏡は語る 