Strode into more free and ticketed shows at Esplanade's da:ns festival and happily concluded two lovely weeks with a big performance that held major wow factor- 'TeZukA'.
Am glad to have a chance to catch up with the various friends who came by to watch the shows, and also said hello to new acquaintances. Had a lot of fun taking them around Singapore and chilling out at the various cafes and restaurants.
'Paris 1994/Gallery' by The Dietrich Group (Canada)
I could watch shows alone, but this wouldn't be one of them. Was glad that I had the friends for company. I'm not hot about the theme of the dance. (It's strictly personal.) But I wanted to see Darryl A Hoskins' choreography. Heard so much about it. That meant I had to sit through the intimate 'Paris 1994/Gallery' no matter how. Let's put Paris aside. It's not my favorite city in France. I avoid going through CDG Airport and Paris if I could help it. It's the part about remembering past relationships that I'm strongly inimical about.
I concentrated on lighting design, movements and the dancers. Although I wasn't drawn into their world, I enjoyed the chemistry and charisma exuded. Time, space and perception of memory blended into the show and projected themselves on the audience. The dancers were totally convincing, reaching deep into their emotions to pull them out into the fluid stretches and powerful lunges. There was a maturity about the dancers that didn't torture me too much in trying to relate to the themes.
'Aomori Project: Of Landscapes Remembered' by Sioned Huws (UK)
Unfamiliar with Sioned Huws' works, I googled a fair bit for background knowledge. This was a refreshing performance. Loved the musicians, their traditional instruments and beats that accompanied the dance. I was immensely relieved that this wasn't done to the rhythm of a nail gun fired to create wall art with planks.
This must be the first time I see dancers spend so much time lying their their backs twirling around. It was a tad dizzying, along with the hair flips and repetition of movements. Strained to catch the teodori (Okinawa hand dance) influences. Had to firmly keep in mind Sioned Huws' experiences of the cold winter months in Aomori Prefecture in order to relate to what I was seeing ermmm...on the floor. The music and minyo singer helped to draw me into that stark world.
'TeZukA' by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui (Belgium)
Initially, I was really disappointed because I thought the timings wouldn't permit me to catch it. It was only much later when I took a look at the tickets and realized that the Sunday show was at 5pm. PERFECT. I could make it after all! Excitedly texted the girlfriend for a date at the Theatre.
The score is composed by Nitin Sawhney. That's the biggest attraction for me, next to the part about anime. Citing the show as a "multimedia homage to Osamu Tezuka", I was so curious about how the entire performance would pan out. It sounded like an amalgamation of every Japanese art discipline. I'm not a fan of Osamu Tezuka though. (Sorry, Astro Boy.) I've flipped through his works, enjoyed 'Metropolis' in drawings and on film, understood a little about his motivation, and nothing more.
We opted for seats right at the front because we knew it wasn't going to be just dancing. Curious about which selected pieces of video art from Taiki Ueda, and live calligraphy by Tosui Suzuki, and individual brushes wielded by the dancers. I wasn't sure if my attention would be held by Belgian choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui's movements which seemed like the backdrop instead. But in the end, I was enthralled, rooted to my seat, in awe of the vision of the choreographer. Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui is obviously a huge fan of Osamu Tezuka's works. This performance paid great homage to the god of manga in the treatment and interpretation of a summary of all his works, themes and beliefs.
The elements of 'Sutra' were also present in the dance movements of 'TeZukA'. I'm very much more impressed by this latest creation though. The dancing, was not second to the awesome multimedia presented. I enjoyed the musicians on stage. Tsubasa Hori was really good on the traditional drums taiko, and from the zither family, the koto. She made the percussion come alive. The singing, and the recitation all, (I spied Astro Boy sing!) added many dimensions to what would have been just dancing on stage. Although at times, I had to filter out where to direct the attention to because there were so many things happening on stage simultaneously.
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