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Review of gTranSensesh
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Review of “To Belong” Dance Magazine (Shinshokan January 2015) In the past twenty years of the Japanese contemporary dance scene, collaborations with overseas artists have become quite common, but has it ever shown the depth and aptitude as this To Belong? The songs from Indonesia and traditional expression using the body merge with its contemporary Japanese counterparts in an effortless manner, creating an atmosphere defined as “Asian.” Yet it does not play upon the stereotypical “oriental” image, but rather diversify this imagery that is defined as oriental. This piece achieves to reach the supreme goal of what contemporary dance has been aiming for. --------- Jakarta The meetings inspired her to initiate a collaborative work that combines all the elements that interested her. She also invited Yudi Ahmad Tajudin, the artistic director of Theatre Garage in order to bridge the two cultures. The result is a dance-theater entitled To Belong / Suwung. This work was first staged in Nagano, Japan in November 2013. Then in March 2014 it was presented again in Singapore, and finally returned to Japan to the international dance festival “Dance New Wave” in Tokyo in October 2014.@ Towards the end of this year, the art enthusiasts in Indonesia finally had the opportunity to witness this special show. This was an occasion that could not be passed because originally there were no plans to stage To Belong / Suwung in Indonesia. Luckily Akiko Kitamura was in Jakarta for the staging of the opera-theater-dance Gandhari (Theatre Jakarta, December 12 & 13) which was also directed by Yudi Ahmad Tajudin and involved the dancers in To Belong / Suwung. There are 3 Indonesian dancers (Danang Pamungkas, Rianto and Lulu Ari Prasetyo) and 3 Japanese dancers (Kana Ote, Yuki Nishiyama and Llon Kawai.) So all the important figures to stage To Belong / Suwung for the public of Jakarta came together.@ To Belong / Suwung is a rich display of the arts. The curtains maximised the minimal stage serving also as multimedia screens. The main screen opens with the video of Slamet Gundono singing with his trademark style: an ukulele and the Banyumasan dialect. Then with the same small guitar carried around her neck, Endah Laras appears. Her song accompanies the dancers who appear one by one on stage. In the beginning the three Japanese dancers and the three dancers from Solo and Jogja move in contrast as to emphasise their differences. They are trying to communicate and seek a common understanding. Keeping their distance with each other, but at moments coming to contact and surprising the other, until gradually the six bodies become united in various complementary motions. Japanese martial arts action captured by Indonesian martial arts, combined with the traditional dance of two cultures, creates a sort of conversation without words that is dynamic and full of energy. Music produced by Yasuhiro Morinaga combine diverse field recordings, including recording of Slamet Gundono’s voice and hip-hop songs by Javanese Mohamad Marzuki. There was a moment when Slamet's voice fills the empty spaces between the dancing bodies: the puppeteer tells the struggle of the gigantic stature with a drop of dew on the tip of the leaf that he could never drink, and his frustration and feeling small and helpless in the face of this drop of dew. Then the sound of Slamet’s chant connects to Marzuki’s lyrics that describes the body connected to the soul “that has not lost its holiness.” The transition from Slamet to Marzuki is so smooth, and all the elements come together, gestures, songs, visual graphics and animations. In such a union, without the specific role and relation to one another, it felt that Slamet Gundono was an important foundation and an irreplaceable figure. Unfortunately during the process of creation, Slamet died in early 2013. The work is unique and this wonderful collaboration is owed ??to him, so that the performance in Indonesia particularly had an important meaning. And the good news apart from the two days of presentation in Jakarta, To Belong / Suwung will "return" to Solo, the place of its origin where this collaboration began. In Jakarta the show was held at the Goethe Institute and still can be seen for free on Wednesday (Dec 17) at 20:00 pm tonight. In Solo, To Belong / Suwung will be presented at the Theatre of the ISI this Saturday evening, December 20. This is the last work that Gundono Slamet was involved in the world of international performing arts. In this work, the last song he created before his death plays an important part and has never been played before in Indonesia. Therefore it is appropriate that when staging To Belong / late artist for all his contributions to the arts in Indonesia and all over the world. (MMU / MMU) ~ To Belong Reviews of Jakarta Performances~ Sjafial Arifin in Sindo Weekly, 9th May, 2012
2010 Collaboration with Art Zoyd (France)
Akiko Kitamura & Leni-Basso gThe characteristic quality of Ms Kitamurafs work is not to show dance that
is dependent on the body on the box set. Rather, she aims to clear away
the difference between the stage and audience, fill the space with sounds,
lighting and images, and create something in which dance mixes with other
elements. Her work that sets directions on all five senses shows a trend
in todayfs society where the boundaries of arts are becoming ambiguous and
the definition of dance is being rewritten.h Ghostly Round Perfect Chaos Leni-Basso was already a hot group of the world when they
presented its gorgeous piece called gFinksh. gGhostly Roundh , the new piece
recently premiered was a co-production with HKW. It boldly shows a clear
distinction from Butoh movement, however it could never have been achieved
without it. Finks " Finks" from choreographer and dancer Akiko
Kitamura stimulates the fantasy fortunately more. With 6 dancers, 4 cameras,
light and video artist who samples on the spot, live recordings (of the
space and dancers) and non-live recordings (of graphic forms, letters, and
old-fashioned cracked bawling image ), she manages to create a fascinating,
un-graspable world. Black, white and gray tinges dominate. The floor as
well as back wall is continuously divided into squares of light. The reality
of the here and now and the reality of the video, sometimes beautifully
fall together. Thanks to a stylized lighting, the dancers dance in the projections
passing by their own silhouettes. The projected live recordings are very
recognizable: they are the suspension of what we see just before on the
floor. After a little squarely walking around, the dancers come one by one,
gradually together, and the choreography becomes more structured. First
there are still short solo's next to two measures-tapes. Then, careful partner
work begins, while meaningful words, like 'escape', 'wait', and 'accept',
are passing over the screen. Everybody goes in the end, rather unnoticed,
up in a constant cadence, flowing but with movements with full of contrast.
Only fragments of super-swinging techno (by Keigo Emura) let to hear through
the piece, like bubbling up temptation, is typical for Finks: hip, but with
a character of its own.h Slowly, Slow for Drive eSlowly, Slow for Drivef succeeds in intensifying dance by manipulation
of lighting and images. The solo and group dances are explosive---full of
offbeat groovy feelings, which are accelerated by skillfully mismatched
harmony of the centers of movements and rhythm. The audiences can feel even
the joy of the dancers.h | Dance Magazine, JapanThree Temptations Bittersidewinder gI felt outstanding power in Leni-BassoÕs ebittersidewinderf, in which expression
exists exactly where it is about to hurt itself. It aims to clear away the
gap between the stage and the audience, to fill the space with sound, light
and image, and to mix dance with other elements. Ms Kitamurafs work sets
direction on all five senses, which seems to be one of the trends of the
modern society where boundaries of arts are becoming unclear and the definition
of dance is about to be redefined.h dovetail gWhen the two performers sat on chairs, an interviewerfs voice was heard
from nowhere asking, eIntroduce yourselff, eWhat is your favorite food?
e and so on. Instead of a reply, they hit the panel on the table, which
gave mismatched responses like eWelle and eHelloe. The incoherent conversations
from the panels gradually changed into electric piano sounds. As the action
of hitting the panels was shifted to performing music, Ms Kitamuraes movements
became dance. She stretched her left arm to the right while her right arm
moved under the left arm. The movement of her hitting the keys and its track
were beautiful. Making sounds happily to rhythm was dance. When Ms Kitamura
got up from the chair to dance, it could be summed up in a single word:
brilliant. Based on the linear motion between left and right, she danced
sharply, agilely and precisely like a razor blade. Sometimes her dance had
a very short break like blurring as if a film were caught on something.
She struck poses with feints to play with directions and angles and held
them exquisitely.h |
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