Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Collaborations- Japan


Currently I live in Kyoto, Japan where I moved two years ago in order to get in touch with my roots. My mother is originally from Japan, but moved to the USA as a young child. Kyoto is an exquistely beautiful place and I constantly struck with the gorgeous details in daily life, from the packaging of my food to the ordaments in a women`s hair.
One of my main ways to enter the culture is by studying butoh dance with Ima Tenko. She was a former member of the company Byakkosha. A company I grew up looking at pictures of in my father`s books on butoh. She tells me stories of Japan during its heyday in the 1980s before the bubble burst and avant garde artists were funded. She has introduced many folktales and symbols of Japan to me. I am in her company Ima Tenko and Kiraza. Currently we are working on the piece, The Peacock Boat.





I am currently collaborating with ryotaro, an accordion player , composer and performer. His playing is stunning, fierce and at moments beautifully melancholy. We have performed together in Europe and the USA.

Our work is a series of intimate segments, both choreographed and spontaneous. Music and dance are the essential elements in the pieces. We also use text, comedy and surrealistic imagery to create work, which examines universal and complex issues, particularly the theme of belonging and longing.

http://www.ryotaro.info/

Links
I have previously worked with the following artists and companies.

Open Gate Theater
Los Angeles, USA

The Solvents

Berlin, Germany
Totnes, England


John Jesurun
New York, USA

Bread and Puppet Theater

Vermont, USA




Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Rain

RAIN performed 10/30/2008 at Urban Guild Kyoto
RAIN is collaboration between ryotaro and myself. The music and choreography are inspired by the underlying image of rain and its associations with water, continuous moving and falling, memory and longing.



For more excerpts please click.