Japan diary 6

Viimeinen päiväkirja Japanista. Work in progress -esitykset ovat nyt takanapäin. Meillä oli yhteensä neljä esitystä Yokohamassa Creative space 9001:ssä. Pidin kovasti esityksen alusta, jossa ihmiset istuivat odottavina sohvilla ja tuoleilla, höyryävät kupit kädessään ja katselivat asemalla kulkevia ihmisiä. Olin tullut toiselle puolella maapalloa tarjoamaan ihmisille kahvia.


 

 

 

11.–17.12.2008

Tämä on viimeinen päiväkirja Japanista. Work in progress -esitykset ja Japani ovat nyt takanapäin. Meillä oli yhteensä neljä esitystä Saguraghicho-asemalla Creative space 9001:ssä.

Katsomo oli suunnattu asemalle päin. Tarjosimme katsojille kahvia ja teetä ennen esitystä. Pidin kovasti tästä esityksen alusta, jossa ihmiset istuivat odottavina sohvilla ja tuoleilla, höyryävät kupit kädessään ja katselivat asemalla kulkevia ihmisiä. Olin tullut toiselle puolella maapalloa tarjoamaan ihmisille kahvia.

Koko esityksen ajan pidimme ovet avoinna asemalle niin, että kuka tahansa saattoi halutessaan tulla tilaan, poistua tai seurata esitystä aseman puolelta. Esityspaikan edessä kulki keltainen viiva, jota tanssijat kulkivat alussa. Meillä oli iso tanssiryhmä, sillä koreografiaan osallistui myös valtava joukko ohikulkijoita. Esityksen lopussa tanssijat poistuivat asemalle ihmisten sekaan. Esitys kesti n. 35 min.

Esityksen jälkeen tanssijat jakoivat yleisölle kirjoittamansa tekstit residenssiajasta, nämä tekstit löytyvät myös tämän jutun lopusta. Sanoin muutaman sanan, ja annoimme yleisölle mahdollisuuden keskustella meidän kanssamme, jos he haluaisivat. Monet katsojista jäivät tilaan lukemaan tekstejä ja istumaan hetkeksi ja muutamat ihmiset tulivat juttelemaan.

Japanilainen yleisö vaikutti pidättyväiseltä ja vakavalta. Olin aiemmin ehdottanut, että pitäisimme keskustelutilaisuuden esityksen jälkeen. Minulle kerrottiin, että se saattaa olla hyvin hankalaa, koska monikaan ei puhu englantia ja ihmiset ovat ujoja puhumaan/kysymään joukon edessä. Esityksen keston selvittyä päädyimme ratkaisuun, että olemme läsnä tanssijoiden kanssa, mikäli joku haluaa keskustella. Halusin tällaisen hetken esityksen jälkeen mm. siksi, että japanilainen tanssikenttä on hyvin hajanainen, eikä kukaan vaikuta tuntevan toisiaan, joten paikallisilla tanssijoilla olisi näin pieni verkottautumismahdollisuus.

Tein itse esityksen äänisuunnittelun ja ajoin myös esityksessä äänet, joten videokuvaus on tehty liikkumattomana yhdeltä paikalta. Esityksessä käytettyjä musiikkeja ei ole tässä videossa tekijänoikeussyistä.

Work in progress: Yellow line

I try to find moments when I feel connected to the other people. Those moments last just few seconds and then its gone again. I try to search these moments by going to the yoga classes, listen relaxation tapes, whale singing and do my breathing exercises. I execute my practice and then I go again, same way, every day. Walking in the thin yellow line.

 Video diary 6

 

Tanssijoiden päiväkirjat:


Park Eun Young:

Week 1

I had built up a wall even before everything started, including ideas about different countries, cultures, languages, looks and values…

A sense of fear was born without my own noticing.

The rehearsal was from 10:00 in the morning to 5:00 in the evening, and throughout the hours I concentrated hard to maintain the string of tension.

The choreographer’s idea was evolving one after another with no break given. I kept up with it, desperately.

The days were spent in the park nearby with the sound of nature, along with fun people-watching in front of the subway station. Back in the studio we reviewed what we had seen, heard and felt in the day and created movements. As the improvised rehearsal goes on, my mind gradually becomes relaxed.

 
Week 2

A video diary was provided by the choreographer.

Her week-long work was condensed in a short image.

The method was to record your idea in images. The idea seemed brilliant and gave me a further fresh impact. Our work grew even more powerful and substantial, having taken in lots of new thoughts: thoughts about each other, trust…

We were brought together by various chances and physically crashed into each other, exchanged ideas, got to know each other…and the sense of team work –that we are all one! came up…what a strange, blessing event this was.

The wall that I had set up myself was crumbled down by my company, dancing in sweat.

 
Week 3

One week before the show.

What are we trying to tell our audience?

The choreographer demanded from us even further concentration so that we were made to think about lots of things.

Most of our work is now in its final stage.

I sense that there is not much left of our time together.

I sense loneliness and pressure in my heart that is beyond description.

I slowly look at my fellows, and again feel thankful to them.

In front of the station where we perform, there were various pleasant events we observed there together…

 
Poem

A yellow line

A pillar sticking up

A fluorescent light

Looks as if a performance starts

A busy noise lingering at regular pause

A big crowd

People of blank-face

People waiting for someone

People just walking intently

You see someone over there walking slowly with heavy baggage

TAKE YOUR TIME!

Come, let us all breath deeply, and

Listen to the voice from your heart

Keep enough room in yourself not to miss the beautiful things around you

With it, in the hope that you forever remember this time of ours together, We wish to express our gratitude to you all.

 
Kanae Maezawa:

Until my participation in the residency was confirmed and it actually started, I had no idea how things would work out. Once it kicked off, it soon became obvious that it was no easy task for the four people–from completely different countries, cultures and backgrounds in dance–to work together in English, which no one of the four speaks as their native language. It made me realize the importance of language and how dependent we are on it. However, if language is not used, human beings as excellent creatures soon manage to communicate by other means such as gesture and noise, and some common language is created day by day among us. Moreover, since each of us tries to take in the sight and breathing of the other three when dancing together, we rapidly began to get along well naturally. Although we argued time to time during the last several weeks, it has given me an opportunity to think about various matters. The result of that experience has gone further from these four members, and gave us a number of hints in continuing dance, showing it, and looking at the dance scene in Japan.

Dance in my definition is a kind of communication. Communication is crucial, and true communication becomes possible only when both the speaker (dancer) and the receiver (audience) step forward to each other. Through this residency, I was freshly made aware how difficult communication can be, and at the same time, how vital it can be. I won’t forget the moment when our communication went well. As it was in this residency, it is significant that complete strangers got together, created a work together through our communication, and showed it to the audience in another form of communication. I am most grateful that I was given such wonderful opportunity, and very much hope that this program will continue in the future. Once again, I would like to express my sincerest thanks.

 
Haruka Toda:

Four individuals from different countries, languages and backgrounds got together and have spent a whole month, rehearsing for one performance, engraving the passage of each day in each body.

We were dancing not only for ourselves but also in the hope we would send some message to the society. Through dance as a common language, I have seen from the links among people, relationships between individuals and society, people’s strength, weakness and possibilities, from various angles. Humans have bodies and the five senses. We live in these two elements. If dance is an action focusing on people’s natural movements, dance is supposed to be really simple and convey a direct message to the people. On this occasion, the four of us and our supporters have continued discussion, transcending the borders of countries, languages and backgrounds. When strangers try to tie up, crash occurs over different feelings and realistic problems. We recognize it, accept it, love it and learn from it, and find out that an unparalleled power would come out of it. Chances for the human beings are ever broad. From this residency I’ve realized that as fellow human beings, we can jump across countries, languages and cultural backgrounds, and can be united. I would be happy if I could at all express such sense of connection through today’s performance.

 

 

Sari Palmgren työskentelee freelance-koreografina ja -tanssijana mm. Z-Score-koreografikollektiivissa. Hän on valmistunut tanssitaiteen maisteriksi Teatterikorkeakoulusta 2004. Hän työskentelee Japanissa 11.11-17.12.2008, ja tekee tältä ajalta viikottain ilmestyviä lyhyitä videopäiväkirjoja.