Voyage Junkie

Here is the latest rendition of "To Live in the Moment Without Fear," from December 18, 2011. I am more "visible" in this video than the one from June, because my hair is flying free in a half-ponytail. It's easy to tell the little white girl from the others when her golden tresses are everywhere. This video is of an extended performance featuring revised choreography on seven dancers instead of the original six, a duet with myself and Shio that I was instrumental in choreographing, and a charming finishing number featuring four young creative movement students. There are moments I dislike, like when the fabric gets caught on the back lights and I have to untangle it (very obviously), but overall it was a good experience and it felt nice in performance.

I participated in another dance concert on December 18th, which also happened to be the Artistic Director's 68th birthday!  She's such a spunky woman who still dances like crazy and does handstands.  She looks at least 10 years younger than she is, and acts about 20 years younger.  I hope I am half as ambulatory and energetic as she is if I reach her age. We held her party at Godmother's, which is turning into one of our party mainstays.  We were served wonderful pizza and pasta, and apparently bought tons of sparkling wine near the end of the evening (Japanese people like to get their drink on, especially for birthdays and special events like dance concerts). Let's go around the room.  First we have two little girls (of four).  These two were the older two, and also the more obnoxious two.  The one in stripes was completely insufferable during dinner.  She refused to eat any vegetables or healthy food, demanded several slices of pizza befor...

To Live in the Moment Without Fear  is a work by Yuko Shinoda from Gifu, Japan.  Danced by six women, the dance investigates what it means to be a part of a community threatened by a disaster that takes a life.  Premiered June 5th 2011 in Nagoya, Japan, the dance features a strong movement aesthetic that draws from traditional Japanese dance as well as contemporary styles and contact improvisation.  Shinoda's use of space and timing, as her dancers flow in-and-out of solos, duets, trios, and unison, creates a sense that the dancers are unified and alone at the same time.  In the end, Shinoda's view of life is clear: we must tend to the fallen, but we must never surrender ourselves to fear while we are still alive.

Nadeshiko, Mako, Rie, Sachiko, me, Yuuko, and Shio On June 5th, I was in my first performance in Japan.  It was a crazy affair of epic proportions.  The process was a mixture of frustration and fun, as were all dance projects I've ever been involved in.  I danced with ModernDanceYou Co, a small company run by an adorable woman in her late 60's named Yuuko.  This makes the company name even cuter, because her name sounds like "You Co." Our dance piece was a reaction to the May 11th earthquake.  I saw the dance as a story of a community dealing with an imminent disaster, one they did not consciously know was coming.  Apparently the lights were a color that accentuated our earth-toned and water-colored costumes, making it appear that half of us were representing the earth and half of us were representing the tsunami. Getting ready was a trip and a half.  I arrived later than the others with Yuuko, and I was still ready a good hour before everyone ...