DANCE NEW AIR 2020

Curated by Roma Hashimoto, who is currently garnering much attention, this exhibition introduces four groups of young choreographers and dancers in their twenties who are leading the way toward a new era of dance. This is a remarkable showcase in which you can experience the future dance scene through the performers’ bodies.

A Statement of Intent for the Future
2021. The Tokyo Olympics were held in the summer, and a general election will take place this fall. In a city witnessing such changes, where are we, the so-called next generation, headed?
In this program of performances, I have gathered artists to whom we wish to offer an opportunity to express their thoughts on the future.
With a high degree of purity in each expressive style, the figure of the artists can be likened to the planets revolving around the “sun” (the theme of this program), orbiting and sometimes passing one another.
Through these microcosms that appear in the Spiral Hall, we hope to create a space where we can consider as a single urban community about questions such as what the definition of dance really is and what expression in society can mean, transcending the boundary between stage and audience.

Roma Hashimoto

program

Aoitsuki
“who。”

Ten years ago, in that place,
Everyone laughed at my words.
So I glared at them. Adults, children.
And the age I’m living in.

Someone said it.
I hate that girl.
I don’t like her, because she has rebellious eyes.

Someone said it.
I hate that girl.
I don’t like her, because she controls her own fate from birth with her words.

If there is a back, there is a front; if there is a right, there is a left.
This is a story of two people living in today’s chaotic world who share a tacit understanding.

Direction, Choreography and Performance: Aoiyamada, Tuki Takamura（Aoitsuki）

Yae Yamamichi × Megumi Abe
“Dance: Orochi -the myth of Great Serpent- Retold”

The legend of Dojoji, which tells of a woman who, out of jealousy, turns into a giant serpent and burns the man she loves with her own flames, is reconstructed in this work as a story about the young woman named Kiyohime by collaging together classical works such as “Kokin Wakashu,” the Noh play “Kanemaki ”, and Chikamatsu Monzaemon’s “Yomei Tenno Shokunin Kagami. ” The story of the serpent and the woman, handed down since ancient times and reborn with each retelling, will be woven into the present through new gidayu-bushi songs, traditional Japanese music, and contemporary dance.

Choreography and Performance: Megumi Abe
Concept, Songwriting, Composition, and Direction: Yae Yamamichi
Music and Narration: Taro Yamamichi (Jōruri sung narrative), Yae Yamamichi (Futozao shamisen), Tosha Rokon (Hayashi accompaniment), Yuka Mukaeda (bamboo flute)
Musical Direction: Tosha Rokon (Hayashi accompaniment), Kimiho Mochizuki (bamboo flute)
Costume Design: Hyugo Sato

SHIMIZU MASH
“PARANOIA”

A mental disorder in which the afflicted persistently maintains a certain delusion.
Its other name is paranoia.
An illusion born from escape.
Fear, madness, despair, and love.
I am a wretched soul swimming perpetually in a world of illusion.
My illusions continue so that your solitude remains.

Direction, Choreography and Performance: SHIMIZU MASH

Roma Hashimoto
“Pan”

The word “Pan” means “all” in the Greek language.
Standing on the slope of a hill, the amphitheater in ancient Athens allowed the audience to watch the stage while looking down on the city in which they lived, seen in the background.
The year 2021. Tokyo. The living beings known as “youths.” The agitation created by their life in the city. The anxiety. The loneliness.
Clenching their “all,” twisting it in their pockets, these beings roam the streets again today.
The place of responsibility. Today, we search for a filter that can correctly depict our reality, yet nothing matches our search.
This work is an attempt to see if, in the same way as the audiences of ancient Athens, we can discover the city lying behind the Spiral Hall, or beneath our eyes.

Direction, Choreography and Lighting design: Roma Hashimoto
Performance: YO, HIBARI, MINOR, NOHARA, ICHIE (from PUMP management Tokyo), Hirona Kai, Manatsu Tanaka, Marin Yamada
Assistant: Marin Yamada
Costume support: Yuka Satomi
Music edit: Daichi Ietomi
Funding: EU-Japan Fest Japan Committee
Residence Cooperation: DaBY (Dance Base Yokohama)
Cooperation: PUMP management Tokyo