Dance Triennale Tokyo 2012

Infinite moments

Contemporary dance is a living art form that draws its vitality from the culture, history, education, politics and economics of our societies, evolving in concert with the contemporary currents of our time. While its roots can be traced to U.S.A., France, Germany, Canada and Israel, contemporary dance is an evolving work-in-progress all over the world in Scandinavia, Eastern Europe, South America, Africa and Asia.

Japanese contemporary dance has also attained an unprecedented breadth, giving rise to many nascent, novel dance forms. A new wave of practitioners and practices has undoubtedly started to emerge out of the rich diversity and originality of this scene.

This new scene is sailing forth towards uncharted times and places, offering us momentary encounters that give us a glimpse of infinity; a certain essence within this chaos that we pursue with our bodies. These practices offer us the thrill of transient encounters that conceal within them the promise of unlimited potential : the sensation of empathy, surprise, discovery, and the profound shock of the new that eludes all verbal description, inspiring us to shore up a string of “truths”, one by one. Our goal is to share these “infinite moments” with as many people as possible.

Inaugurated in 2002, the Triennale is Japan’s largest contemporary dance festival, a showcase for choreographers and dancers from around the world. This year’s fifth edition features more than 15 participating artists and companies from ten countries : Belgium, Brazil, France, Germany, Indonesia, Israel, Korea, Switzerland, Holland and Japan. In addition to performances at Aoyama Theater, Spiral Hall, and Goethe-Institute Tokyo as well a series of dance workshops, the Triennale will also feature a diverse program of dance-related events, including outdoor performances at the Pilotis Plaza at Kodomo no Shiro (National Children’s Castle), a dance showcase at the Spiral 1F entrance along Aoyama Dori, dance film screenings at Theatre Image Forum, a book fair at Aoyama Book Center Main Store, and a symposium at the United Nations University.

The Dance Triennale Tokyo 2012 was conceived as a cultural catalyst that would foster new forms of originality by broadening the horizons of contemporary dance through exchanges with artists from the same generation who are active on the international stage. The previous edition of the Triennale held in 2009 drew more than 10,000 audience members and participants from both Japan and abroad to Aoyama.

Please follow the Dance Triennale Tokyo 2012 – the largest dance festival of its kind in Japan, and an event which promises to play an increasingly vital role as a source of new trends and ideas in both Japan and the greater Asian region!

Highlights

Almost all the performances on the program will be shown as Japan premiere (except for Strange Kinoko Dance Company, who will present their work “not quite right” for the first time in Tokyo.)

The performance by Nacera Belaza [Algerian-born artist based in France] is a new work that will make its world premiere at the Avignon Festival to be held in July this year.

Also making its world premiere is by Tomoko Mukaiyama + Nicole Beutler + Jean Kalman.

This year’s Triennale welcomes a South American participant for the first time, Brazilian choreographer and dancer Lia Rodrigues, who has been winning accolades from around the world.

Yasmeen Godder, a regular fixture at the Triennale, will be joining us for the third time this year as both a choreographer and a dancer. This will be the first time in 6 years that she will be dancing in Japan.

Several Japanese dancers who are based abroad will present their performances.
-Hideto Heshiki (based in Switzerland)
-Masaharu Imazu (based in Canada : will participate in Hideto Heshiki’s performance)
-Kaori Ito (based in Belgium : will participate in Alain Platel’s performance)

JAPAN FOCUS and ASIA FOCUS will showcase works by Asian and Japanese choreographers. These two new programs seek to promote young emerging talents from Indonesia, Korea, Japan and other Asian countries. A series of symposium, meetings, and salon-style events will also be held in the company of international theater and festival directors over the one-week period before and after the programs.

The festival will also feature brilliant examples of stage design and art direction.
-Yochai Matos (Israeli artist)’s stage design will be shown in Yasmeen Godder’s work.
-Justin Caleo (Australian designer)’s stage design will be shown in Strange Kinoko Dance Company’s performance.

A special program of 8 film screenings will bring together a selection of the latest dance videos and rare historical material. This film program will function not only as a place to encounter the works of past and contemporary dancers that would otherwise be difficult to access, but also as a living “cinema” whose wealth of moving images will bring new inspiration to the medium of dance itself.

Top international artists whose work transcends national boundaries will lead workshops. This rare opportunity will offer participants the chance to enjoy direct contact with these artists and immerse themselves in the diverse possibilities of the medium.

Aoyama-dori will serve at the base and home for the Triennale, along with the United Nations University and Goethe-Institut Tokyo, turning the entire Aoyama district into a showcase for dance.

Project Outline

Name｜DANCE TRIENNALE TOKYO 2012
　
Duration｜18 days from September 27 (Thu.) to October 14 (Sun.)
　
Venues｜Aoyama Round Theatre, Spiral Hall, Goethe-Institut Tokyo, Theatre Image Forum,
　　　　 United Nations University, Aoyama Book Center main store
　
Organizers｜The Foundation for Child Well-being (National Children’s Castle, Aoyama Theatre / Aoyama Round Theatre),
　　　　　　 Spiral / Wacoal Art Center Co., Ltd.
　　　　　　 Dance Triennale Tokyo 2012 Executive Committee
　
Co-Organizers｜Daguerreo Press, Inc. (Theatre Image Forum), Goethe-Institut Tokyo,
　　　　　　　 United Nations University (to be determined)
　
Subsidies｜The Agency for Cultural Affairs Government of Japan in the fiscal 2012,
　　　　　 The Berlin Senate Cultural Affairs Department, Institut français,
　　　　　 Pro Helvetia, Arts Council of Switzerland,
　　　　　 Planning Office for Arts Council Tokyo, Tokyo Metropolitan Foundation for History and Culture
　　　　　 The Saison Foundation, EU-Japan Fest Japan Committee
　
Special Sponsoring｜Bloomberg L.P.
　
Sponsoring｜Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Flanders Center, minä perhonen, Nestlé Nespresso K.K.,
　　　　　　 SHISEIDO CO., LTD. TOKYU STAY Service Co., Ltd., Toyota Motor Corporation, YAMAHA CORPORATION
　
Partners｜Brass Media Corporation (Aoyama Book Center), Shibuya Aoyama-dori store society,
　　　　 Aoyama Omotesando store society, Shibuya Hikarie, AOYAMA COMMONS,
　　　　 Aoyama Gakuin University Society-Academy Collaborative Research and Education Center
　
Support｜Embassy of Belgium, Embassy of Brazil, Indonesian Embassy,
　　　　 Embassy of Israel / Foreign Ministry of Israel, Embassy of Korea / Korean Cultural,
　　　　 Embassy of Switzerland, Délégation générale du Québec à Tokyo,
　　　　 Institut franco-japonais de Tokyo, Shibuya City, Japan Dance Forum (JaDaFo), Shinshokan “Dance Magazine”
　
Cooperation｜SIDance (Seoul), Seoul Performing Arts Festival (Seoul),
　　　　　　　21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa (Kanazawa Art Promotion and Development Foundation)
　　　　　　　KYOTO EXPERIMENT, NPO DANCE BOX & Art Theater dB KOBE,
　　　　　　　Yokohama Red Brick Warehouse No.1 (Yokohama Arts Foundation)
　
Cooperation in Public Relations｜
TOKYO CULTURE CREATION PROJECT, Tokyo Metropolitan Foundation for History and Culture
　
Internship｜Atomi University, Musashino Academia Musicae, Showa Academia Musicae
　

　　
Dance Triennale Tokyo 2012 Executive Committee
Honorary President of the Executive Committee｜Her Imperial Highness Princess Takamado
　
Advisory Committee｜
Tatsuro Ishii (Dance Critic / Emeritus Professor of Keio University / Lecturer at Waseda University / Lecturer at Aichi Prefectural University of Fine Arts and Music)
Ryoichi Enomoto (Creative Director / Director of ATAMATOTE International / Professor at Kyoto University of Art and Design)
Shigeto Nuki (Dance Critic / Professor at Senshu University, School of Letters)
Takao Norikoshi (Writer / Dance Critic)
Atsuko Hisano (Program Director, The Saison Foundation)
　
Staff｜
Chief Producers : Shinji Ono (Aoyama Theatre / Aoyama Round Theatre), Hiroyuki Kobayashi (Spiral)
Producers : Kumi Hiraoka (Dance in Deed!), Maki Miyakubo (Spiral), Koyo Yamashita (Theatre Image Forum)
Public Relations : Yuko Nishiyama (NANJO and ASSOCIATES)
Publicity Design, Web Design : Hirohisa Ota (golzopocci)
Administration : Mai Takizawa, Kimiko Terada (Spiral)
International Correspondence / Translation : Ayako Kuwabara, Ayako Hamaguchi
　
Technical Coordinates: Yoshiko Haraguchi
Stage Managers : Satoshi Ono, Akiyoshi Tsutsui, Tomohiro Yokoo
Lighting Coordinates : Koichi Motoki (Aoyama Theatre / Aoyama Round Theatre), Yukihide Otsuka (Spiral Hall)
Sound Coordinates : Ichiro Muto (Aoyama Theatre / Aoyama Round Theatre), Atsushi Ukioka (Spiral Hall)