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.

If you're keeping up with the blog, you know that I was recently in a dance performance in Gifu, on a day that was also my Artistic Director's birthday (December 18th, 2011).  A few days later I went to the last class before winter vacation.  It was a crazy class in that we were all tired, one of my friends spilled tea in her bag and had to skip out of most of class, and another girl was there to run through a solo she's performing in a few weeks.  After the warm-up, I spent most of the time doing yoga and Pilates.  When the solo dancer needed a break, Yuko sensei called me over and spent some time teaching me  noh -inspired classical Japanese dance.  She put on music and improvised, and I followed along, fascinated by the subtle movements.  I decided, then and there, to make her a birthday dance honoring our times of cultural exchange.  I set the piece to an Okinawan song, and for movement I improvised much like Yuko sensei, attempting to stay w...

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...

If you're tired of seeing my videos all over the place, this is it for awhile, I promise!  I just finished my current backlog with this installment for my sister Clara.  It's a lonely piece set against a backdrop of autumn trees and a city skyline.  For this piece I listened to the music and took the feel of it to the set, where I improvised in relationship to the various physical structures.  I didn't want to get caught up in the 3/4 time and play into the song too much, so I kept things loose.  My only pet peeve: youtube, why did you choose such awkward thumbnails for this piece?  In post, it made sense to use fades with this dance.  Up until now I've used only quick cuts (or no cuts, in the case of installment two).  However, this dance needed more flow, to go with the 3/4 time.  But every thumbnail is during a fade!  Oh well.  Sorry, it's neither as super cool or as annoyingly ghostly as the thumbnail suggests, whichever you wer...

Hot on the heels of the last video comes number 3, made for my friend Steven Kwan.  This was actually filmed before number 2, but it required a lot more editing so it took a backseat in post-production.  The song Steven picked seemed to call for more than one performer, so I chose a place I could film from one continuous angle and edit into a duet.  I don't have super high-tech equipment, so there's places I had to deal with wind blowing the camera around and other such nonsense, but at least the project stays true to its indie roots. If You Give a Girl a Camera, Installment Three "I Have Something to Discuss" Music: An Argument With Myself  by Jens Lekman   Note: I earn no money from this blog, nor any place this video has been shown so far. Also, this song has strong language at one point, so parents beware!

Here's video number two in my new series!  This one is special because I filmed it entirely in one take.  I wanted to channel the genius of music videos like Christopher Walken's performance in " Weapon of Choice " by Fat Boy Slim, which if somehow you haven't seen because you've been in a hole, please watch it now!  In any case, it took some interesting communication between Matt and myself.  I was up on a hill and I obviously couldn't be listening to the music.  So he's down with the camera, calling up at me when things were changing in the music, and where he was pointing the camera.  I think we really pulled it off in this take, which is only the second full run-through.  Enjoy! If You Give a Girl a Camera, Installment Two "Go West, Young Man" Music:  Black Moon  by Wilco   Note: I earn no money from this blog, nor any place this video has appeared so far.

Chisato, me, and Masumi. Two of my favorite girls invited me to a dance performance of theirs last weekend.  The style is called buyou , a generic term used for traditional Japanese dance forms.  As we know it, modern buyou  is based on traditional performances by  kabuki players.  Those kabuki  players (all men, by the way) lifted the dances from the geisha  of the time, popularizing them in the theaters.  It's a classic example of the relationship between female prostitution and dance, as historically, dance forms done by women were relegated to brothels, brought to the stage by male performers, and finally reclaimed by women.  Today, women of all ages learn and perform buyou .  This honors the beauty of the history and serves to elevate the geisha  to the level they deserve: that of artist.  (To read more about the relationship between dance and prostitution, read "Something In The Way She Moves," by Wendy Buonaventura.)...

On a whim, I decided to start a new dance for camera series inspired by the musical choices of my friends.  It can be difficult for me to develop projects on my own, especially when my hands are tied by factors like lack of space, lack of dancers, etc.  So on the birthday of a longtime friend, I asked him to tell me his favorite song of the moment, and I made the video below to that song.  It turned out much better than I imagined, and I'm currently working on the next four installments of the series.  Enjoy!  If you like it, there will be more coming soon. If You Give a Girl a Camera, Installment One "You're Invited to a Tea Party" Music: Holiday  by Weezer Note: I earn no money from this blog, nor any place this video has appeared so far.

Matt as the hungry crocodile. On October 16th, Matt and I worked our second English Concert.  It was great fun, and yet another opportunity for us to engage with the community in a meaningful way.  I was asked to choreograph another ballet, this time to "Think of Me," as part of the "Phantom of the Opera" skit.  I also played Tinkerbell in "Peter Pan," which involved a lot of flitting around and setting off the magic wand at opportune (and inopportune) times.  Matt made a star turn as the crocodile, then came back to play Monsieur Armand in "Phantom." Here I am, pointing out Peter Pan's hideout to Captain Hook (who also played Peter Pan's shadow) and Smee.  The wand, which I borrowed from one of the girls in the ballet, made a ridiculous musical sound when turned on.  I made sure to flip it on whenever I wanted to motion with it, so it rang out with each move of my hand.  Annoying?  Potentially.  Luckily, the skit (and my...

  Last year Matt and I spent some time watching these dancers, and I was lucky enough to see them this year, back on the same street!  They are called Awa Odori  dancers, and while I can't find much information in English that makes sense, there is a lot on various Japanese pages.  From what I can garner, there's a big festival each August in Tokushima.  It's 400 years old, and the dances celebrate the famous Awaodori forest.  Luckily for me, they bring the show on the road to Gifu every year, too.  For each group there's a video, as well as a picture, if you don't have a lot of time.  First up, subtle dancers in blue/green, that appear to be the trees as they wave in the wind. Next, here are some absolutely adorable men, mostly older, dancing a ridiculous-looking dance.  We saw the same men last year, which is where this picture came from.  I can see the growth of the forest as they move from crouching to standing,  an...

Yesterday I had the pleasure of performing in a Full Moon Festival in Hashima, a small town just outside of Gifu.  Modern Dance You Co. performed a small, relaxed dance that featured a kid's number to a song about onigiri (rice balls), Sachiko as the princess from the moon, and the rest of us as kunoichi , or female ninjas.  This is the year of the rabbit by the Chinese zodiac, so the two little girls were dressed as rabbits, and had a very important role in taking the princess back to her home on the moon.  It was adorable, and quite a lot of fun. Rie teaches me how to take tea. We spent the day at the cultural center getting ready for the performance.  We were able to take a break before the show started, and we went upstairs to take part in the tea ceremony.  There were manju  decorated like rabbits and delicious bowls of macha , otherwise known as green tea.  I couldn't eat the manju , because although some people will swear it contains no wh...

Dancing at a Gifu festival.

Yuko sensei sitting with many obi . The holiday Obon  is a traditional Buddhist celebration honoring deceased relatives.  It is customary to return to your hometown and pay tribute to ancestor's grave sites, as the spirits are said to return during Obon .  It is celebrated for three days around August 15th, though the specific dates differ across Japan.  In Gifu prefecture, Obon  was celebrated August 13-15, and we took part in the festivities. Obon  is attributed to a Buddhist monk who learned his mother was suffering in a realm of hungry ghosts.  He began a series of sacrifices to free her, and as he did so, he realized all her selflessness and sacrifice to him during her lifetime.  When she was finally freed, he danced for joy. Close to Gifu, there is a large city named Gujo, famous for its summertime all-night dance festivals.  During  Obon , there are special dances performed to welcome and honor the spirits, in the tra...

Yesterday I went to see a solo dance performance at Aichi Arts Center in Nagoya with several of my dance colleagues.  An internationally renowned artist, Motoko Hirayama , presented After the Lunar Eclipse , a dance first premiered in 2009 in the same space.  In it, she collaborated with lighting designer Takuro Osaka  for an hour-long installation work pairing dance with light. Everything goes black.  Rhythmic pounding and crashes of bass instruments commence, and in the darkness the pounding reverberates inside my head.  A diagonal path of light appears, and in it, a dancer enters stage left.  Slowly, she is pulled toward stage right, performing a series of slow walks punctuated by regal lunges and rond de jambes.  Although she quickly approaches stage right, she constantly leans backwards as if she's simultaneously fascinated and frightened by what she'll find.  When she reaches her destination, she breaks into a robotic, doll-like dance...

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.

  On June 12th I took part in another dance concert.  This one was more of a recital than a professional venture like last week's, which meant it was a little more relaxed.  I did still have to go for crazy amounts of rehearsal and tech in one weekend, but at least it was only two days of crazy!  I got to meet a lot of really interesting people from all corners of Gifu and Nagoya.  I'm pictured to the left with my itty bitty fan club. I danced in an improvisational workshop piece set by Haruna and Mikiko of Tokyo.  They have an interesting company called KiriCollage , which you check out via the link (although it is mostly in Japanese).  There's a lot of pictures and video on the site, understandable in any language.  They are both very impressive movers and have spectacular improvisational flow together.  I took two workshops with them back in April, and they came back to Gifu to set a workshop dance with the participants.  I got to ...

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 ...

I've been remiss in my blog duties as of late.  In the past month, there have been many new developments in my life in Japan, most notably an introduction to a marvelous company.  My adventure started on February 5th, when Matt and I went to see another dance concert.  Most of it was the average recital fair.  An even mix of ballet, modern, and contemporary, the evening did not fail to represent a dance form, which I admit was nice.  However, the ballet choreography ranked among the most boring I have ever seen, and the modern dance music gave melodrama an expanded definition.  One company in particular stood out to me by creating a work titled "War and the End of the World" that displayed a playful group of women maneuvering around each other with long bands.  Their innovative, physical movement called up modern, classical Japanese dance, and contact improvisation throughout the dance, as they formed ultima...

On Sunday, November 14th, I had the opportunity to attend a combined dance recital at a local performance hall in Ogaki City. The woman I helped with the English concert ballet performance took Matt and me to watch her daughter (the cat from the video). It was her daughter's first performance en pointe , and even if I have serious reservations about 10-year-olds in pointe shoes, I was honored to be asked along. I just kept my mouth shut. Well, mostly. Two ballet studios and one modern dance studio partnered to put on the recital. They performed in that order, and by the time the modern dancers took the stage, most of the people had cleared out. That reminded me of America, most definitely. It's not often that I see fully dedicated modern dance schools, so I will give Japan props for that. In many ways, modern dance is much closer to traditional Japanese dance roots than ballet, so it is considered less strange and as a result, it enjoys a bit more popularity. Usually studio...

Matt and I attended a Halloween-themed English production on Sunday night. We proudly donned our costumes again and headed out in quite a lot of rain for a three-hour show (yes, THREE HOURS). A mom of one of Matt's students runs a juku ( cram school), and asked me to choreograph a little dance for three girls as part of the show. They wanted to do "Chinese Tea Dance" from The Nutcracker, and I was happy to oblige with a little Western-influenced ballet. The girls are amazing, as you can see from the video. I set the dance in one rehearsal of less than an hour, and practiced it with them only one other time for about a half-hour. What I wouldn't give to be this talented! Check out the video, linked via youtube: Our new ALT friend Tony, who actually taught at both of our schools last year, came and participated as well. He played Sherlock Holmes in one skit: Tony also created "animal charades" where teams of one parent and one child ...