This year, there are 14 participants from 5 countries. See where this pier workshop leads!

A world of art to visit, see and feel
File.16 Wharf Workshop 2019
Miyuki Inoue (Magcal Editorial Department)

The dockside workshop has started again this year.
The location is Wakabacho Wharf, an art center that opened in 2017.
The 14 performers are from Ho Chi Minh City, Jakarta, Singapore, Nanjing, Chongqing, Beijing, Hefei, Xi'an, Lijiang, Shanghai and Tokyo.
The training program is extremely diverse, with Wakabacho Wharf artistic director Makoto Sato himself as the lecturer, and also includes workshops by dancers and Noh performers, lectures by theater critics, and even viewing of theater productions and tours of the facilities.
They will spend 20 days here living and eating together and working on their piece.

*Last year's report is here!
But before that.
The first challenge participants face is "communication." Although English and Chinese interpreters are provided at the workshop, in order for everyone to work together to create a single piece of work, it is necessary to use the full time to understand each other. If we stay shut up in our rooms, the conversation won't progress. We have to communicate somehow, making full use of gestures and translation software on our smartphones.
On the day I visited the rehearsal studio, a workshop was being held by Hikaru Uzawa (Kanze school Noh actor/Tetsusenkai). The theme was "Noh movements." We learned the basic form one by one, such as the unique standing posture and movement (suriashi).
Noh is sometimes described as the "art of walking," so learning this basic posture may be a way to get closer to the spirit of Noh.
In the rehearsal room, the teacher's words are followed by English and Chinese words. What is surprising is the amount of words used by the interpreter. Simply replacing words does not convey what the teacher is trying to say, so adding supplementary and alternative expressions inevitably results in a lot of words. Of course, gestures are also used to the fullest.
Actually, interpreting is an art in itself.

Questions from participants were also asked in three languages.
Not only do we speak different languages, but we also have different environments and cultural backgrounds, so our findings and impressions are different for each person. Nevertheless, the questions asked by the participants were spot on, and I could sense their eagerness to absorb everything.
At the end, everyone sings a passage from "Yang Guifei."
Although the participants were told to "first try to imitate it out loud even if they don't understand the meaning," the unique intonation of the song seemed to pique the curiosity of the participants. When Uzawa took out his own Noh book, everyone looked at it with great interest, and a lively discussion ensued. The excitement was so intense that it exceeded the allotted time.

"Today, our goal was to simply convey the 'kata', but at the end, there were questions that delved into the theatricality of Noh. It was fun, and many new things for me. There is a limit to what can be conveyed in two hours, so I would like to have a thorough discussion over a meal." (Uzawa)

In stark contrast to the heated rehearsal room, this is lunchtime in the shared lounge. We spoke to Takayoshi Terakoshi (an actor participating in the event) who was preparing lunch.

"I've participated in workshops by foreign directors before, but this was the first time I'd experienced such an exotic feeling. I couldn't communicate with them at all, and it was pretty tough until about the second day (laughs). But there's no doubt that each of them has a career. We'll be creating a work by combining everyone's personalities, so it should be interesting."
In one corner of the lounge, there is a pile of "souvenirs" brought from each region. It seems that passionate discussions on theater are taking place here every night. I tried to imagine the variety of languages that are spoken there while looking at the sweets packages.

In the afternoon, there will be a dance workshop by dancer Keiko Takeya.
Training to move every joint and muscle of the body is essential for performers. The sense of sensing each other's presence and composing a space is also essential for creating a work.

The workshop continues after this. What kind of works will be produced through this collaborative work that transcends the boundaries of language, customs, generations, genres, tradition and modernity?

I'm looking forward to finding the answer when the curtain rises on the play, which is about to begin.

This event has ended.
Wharf Workshop 2019 [People who came]
■Date and time: August 2, 2019 (Fri) 19:00 / 3rd (Sat) and 4th (Sun) 14:00
■ Venue: Wakabacho Wharf
■Ticket price: Advance ticket 3,500 yen / Same-day ticket 4,000 yen
■Inquiries: 045-315-6025 (Wakabacho Wharf)
*For more details, click here!!