Maki Morishita takes on the challenge?! The second installment of her project to conquer all of Beethoven's symphonies.
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File.7 Morishita Stand: "Dancing to Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 in its entirety"
Koichi Imai (Editor/Writer)
Dancer and choreographer Maki Morishita, who performed "Tenkomori," a work reflecting her own dance career, at the opening of Studio HIKARI in the Kanagawa Prefectural Youth Center, will now perform a new work selected for the Magcal Theater , which aims to discover and nurture young talent who will create the future of live performance. However, for some reason, she looks downcast.
"Many people have been telling me, 'You're going to do a group dance of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, "Fate," which you danced solo, right?' But this time it's not the Fifth Symphony, "Fate," it's the Ninth Symphony. It's a new piece! I choreographed it from scratch, and Morishita Stand will be dancing it. So many people get it wrong, and it's kind of annoying (laughs)."
* April residency at Kinosaki International Art Center (preview performance) © igaki photo studio
In March 2016, Morishita choreographed "Destiny" for a project called "Let's Dance with the Orchestra!" at the Kani City Cultural Creation Center (Gifu Prefecture) (an attempt to have citizens dance to live music by the local symphony orchestra). This sparked her fascination with "Destiny," and she had MIKIKO choreograph the first movement, Mirai Moriyama the second, Naoki Ishikawa the third, and Akira Kasai the fourth (a truly amazing and diverse group of people), and she performed them as a solo. Since then, she has danced the first movement to music by the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Hikaru Ebihara, who is also the music director for this production, and to live music by pianist Yasuhiko Imanishi. In "Tenkomori," she also danced the fourth movement with dancers from Morishita's stand. She truly is a woman of "destiny."
* April residency at Kinosaki International Art Center (preview performance) © igaki photo studio
So why "the 9th" this time?
"Actually, when I did 'Fate,' I felt like I couldn't die until I'd done all of Beethoven's symphonies, from No. 1 to No. 9. It's not that I was particularly fond of Beethoven to begin with, but I encountered him and it became my mission. I wonder if I can do it in my lifetime? Mr. Ebihara will be involved as the music director, and we've already moved on to planning for the future, like 'Next up is No. 7,' so it's becoming a project aiming to conquer the entire symphony (laughs)."
"The 'Ninth Symphony'? Next year marks the 250th anniversary of Beethoven's birth, so I chose it because I wanted to start with what I wanted to do. I'll still be performing the 'Fate' Symphony, but I think it would be great to eventually do something like a joint performance of the 'Fate' and the 'Ninth Symphony,' and I would be happy if I were invited to perform the 'Ninth Symphony' at a concert somewhere around the end of the year. After the premiere at the Kanagawa Prefectural Youth Center Studio HIKARI, I would like to perform it with the Kanagawa Philharmonic Orchestra at the Kanagawa Prefectural Hall, for example."
Morishita has recently been coming up with remarkably unique projects, involving those around him, and casually bringing them to fruition. What will be the fate of "The 9th"?
* Mr. Morishita seriously explains the production plan at Studio HIKARI.
When people hear "Symphony No. 9," many probably picture the grand finale chorus. So, the concept of this work is to tackle that challenge with a group dance.
"The other day, Mr. Ebihara gave a lecture on Beethoven's 'Ninth Symphony' to 10 young dancers from Morishita Stand. We learned about Beethoven and the appeal of the 'Ninth Symphony,' and he also gave us some choral instruction. Mr. Ebihara is a conductor, so you could say he's a director who brings the sounds together. What impressed me most about what he said was, 'The purpose of the 'Ninth Symphony' is not to play in perfect harmony, but rather the energy that holds together each performer, who plays with their own interpretation, so that it doesn't fall apart.' In fact, that's exactly the case with Morishita Stand. Our backgrounds are all different—from ballet to street dance, modern dance, rhythmic gymnastics, and theater—and we're all strong individuals who create our own works. We're barely maintaining a balance by deciding to do the 'Ninth Symphony' (laughs). Including myself, we're probably not suited to group dances, but we have a great ability to ultimately make the choreography our own."
* April residency at Kinosaki International Art Center (preview performance) © igaki photo studio
Morishita Stand is a company formed by young members whom Maki Morishita met at events such as the Yokohama Dance Collection. Although their physicality and dance technique are amazing, there was something lacking when it came to creating their own works, so Morishita formed the company after auditions out of curiosity about "what would happen if I choreographed it?"
This time, it's Company Morishita Stand's first full-length production of a new work. "With a company, I can try out all sorts of things, and I want to grow as a person through that," Morishita says.
I did a two-week residency at the Kinosaki International Art Center in April, where I sketched the work and already have a clear overall picture. Now I just need to spend a month refining it through dance.
"What I realize while dancing is that the themes of 'Destiny' and 'Symphony No. 9' are the same. Overcoming adversity, reaching new heights, and finally, joy. But with 'Symphony No. 9,' I get the impression that there are more different sounds and you can see more different landscapes. It feels like you're traveling all over the world. It's a journey of phrases in search of joy. I hope that you can see many different landscapes through our dance as well."
I hope that Governor Kuroiwa of Kanagawa Prefecture, who is a theater enthusiast, will also come and see it!
This event has ended.
Morishita Stand New Dance Performance
"Dancing to Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 in its entirety"
[Date and Time] October 3rd (Thu) - 6th (Sun)
