Communicate through dance, transcending age, nationality, and disability!

The place where plays are born
File.6My Color Dance Workshop
Koichi Imai (editor writer)

There is a unique facility in Kawasaki City called ``Cultz Kawasaki.'' The official name is "Kawasaki City Sports and Culture Center." It is a complex facility with a hall that can accommodate 2,013 people, large and small gymnasiums, martial arts rooms, archery ranges, training rooms, etc. Opening is October 1, 2017. It is located where a gymnasium originally stood, and this style was realized because the hall of the nearby Educational and Cultural Center was scheduled to close in March 2018. Train your body and hone your sensibilities. That may be the image.
The nickname ``Cultz Kawasaki'' is a combination of the words ``culture'' and ``sports,'' and was an idea developed by a local junior high school student. It is a thriving facility that integrates Kawasaki City's Fujimi district and the surrounding area and revitalizes the area with a focus on culture and sports.

Now, at Cults Kawasaki, an initiative called ``My Color Dance Workshop'' is being held. This is part of a project based on the public art community project, in which local citizens participate and create a piece of art together with professional artists. Focusing on the diversity of Kawasaki City, people with and without disabilities participate in dance workshops together to create a dance workshop that embraces people with various needs and supports each other. I am working hard on making it.
“As a citizen myself, there are many things that I think about. I wish I could convey the importance of aiming for a society in which everyone from children to adults, including people with disabilities, can live together, transcending differences in culture and nationality. This project was born from
says Akane Murata, who is in charge of business.

The workshop instructor was Shintaro Hirahara. In addition to leading a dance company called OrganWorks, Mr. Hirahara also provides choreography for various stage productions, and is a dancer and choreographer who participates in Ryohei Kondo's Condors, "Dansu" with Shintaro Oue and Mirai Moriyama, etc. home.
First, a one-off workshop was held in October 2018. This project was commissioned by the city's cultural foundation, ``Para Art Promotion Model Project,'' which works to create an environment where people with and without disabilities can engage in cultural and artistic activities together. Subsequently, a total of eight workshops were held from December 2018 to March 2019 as part of Cults Kawasaki's business. The event was conducted as one course up to the results presentation on March 30th.
``Under Mr. Hirahara's lead, everyone who participated explored ways to express ``connections with people,'' ``living together,'' and ``communication'' through dance, and had the opportunity to experience conveying this to others. (Murata).

In fact, Mr. Murata has had a passion for ``coexistence'' since his university days, but until starting this project, he had never had any experience interacting with people with disabilities. So, I first attended a course on ``Symbiosis and Co-Creation Projects'' held at KAAT Kanagawa Arts Theater, and then attended an organization called ``SLOWLABEL'' in Yokohama City, which is developing activities where people with disabilities and able-bodied people create performances together. I learned about support and communication. In other words, they put what they learned into practice immediately.

And from this June, the first period of 2019 has started.
There will be a total of 14 workshops. The class consists of A class for pairs of children and adults, B class for those 10 years of age and older, and C class for people with disabilities.
Capacity is 70 people. Many citizens continued to participate from last time, and an exciting and fun workshop is being held in preparation for the presentation of the results on November 2nd.

I feel that things are progressing smoothly, but there are still issues to be solved. The ``participation of foreigners'' that was originally envisioned has not been achieved.
Kawasaki City is famous as a city where many foreigners live, including Koreans, Chinese, and Indians. Although there is sad news such as hate speech, Kawasaki City formulated the ``Kawasaki City Multicultural Society Promotion Guidelines'' in 2005 (revised in 2008 and 2015). It is one of the most advanced areas in Japan, systematically and comprehensively promoting measures related to foreign citizens.

"People from many different countries live in Kawasaki City. When people of different nationalities live together, there are some prejudices that remain. It's important that we live by accepting each other. Since I was assigned to Cults Kawasaki, I've been thinking, ``I hope I can do something.''
I told Mr. Hirahara that I wanted to convey through dance the idea that ``let's live by accepting each other's individuality.'' (Murata)

They are in the middle of trial and error, talking to foreign acquaintances, remaking flyers, and receiving advice from the ward office to reach out to the foreign community.

``Up until now, our public relations efforts have been centered around Kawasaki Ward, which is close to us, but we would like to broaden our horizons and expand our activities to the entire city of Kawasaki.Attracting customers for 2020 is also important, so we will promote our activities throughout Kanagawa Prefecture. That's what I want to do.'' (Murata)

Yes, this project is set to last for three years. The goal is for "people with disabilities and foreigners, adults and children, all to stand in the same space and create one work" in a hall that can accommodate 2,013 people on May 24, 2020. Even the audience seats have to be filled.

There are many things that need to be done. But isn't it exciting to imagine all kinds of people gathering, dancing, and smiling at Cults Kawasaki?

And this is where the power of art is essential.