A juggling monster appears at KAAT?! A Japanese-French hybrid work, world premiere!

A world of art to visit, see and feel
File.19 Head and Mouth x Defracto "Yokai Kemame"
Miyuki Inoue (Magcal Editorial Department)

"Yokai Kemame" will soon open at KAAT Kanagawa Arts Theatre.
Juggling x contemporary dance x circus.
It seems interesting, but somehow suspicious.
Suzuki Koji's illustration used on the flyer is also full of wonderful mystery.
What exactly are they trying to do?
I used my editorial privileges to take a look at the rehearsal studio.

Right from the start, I was overwhelmed by the two players' high physical abilities and good teamwork.
This is merely a light warm-up before the rehearsal begins, so there is no way to predict what kind of performance will unfold on stage.
Reflecting on the fact that I had a shallow understanding of "juggling," I spoke with Watanabe Takashi of {Head and Mouth}.

Watanabe first encountered juggling when he was 20 years old and a first-year student at an art college.
"When I went to visit a friend's house, I saw the four of them juggling in the kotatsu table. I thought this was fun, and a week later I bought myself some balls and started juggling."

A family juggling mandarin oranges around the four sides of a kotatsu? It sounds suspicious, but it seems true.
Watanabe became obsessed with juggling and realized that physicality was essential to deepening his juggling skills, so he started ballet and breakdancing. After working both domestically and internationally as a member of a contemporary dance company, he launched the juggling company "Atama to Kuchi" in 2015.

"I work in the context of contemporary art. But this time, I wanted to break away from the 'difficult to understand' atmosphere of contemporary art and create a work that anyone could enjoy."

The venue was the large studio on the 8th floor of the Kanagawa Arts Theatre, with a 360-degree stage set up with the audience surrounding the acting area in the center.

"We travel all over the world and perform in many different places, so it's important that the piece can be adapted to any environment. This time, we're planning a European tour after touring Yokohama, Shizuoka, and Nagoya."

Indeed, because juggling and dance are not dependent on language, they may be able to communicate freely with people all over the world.

In a corner of the studio, Sakurako Gibo, a member of the group Head and Mouth, is busy making balls to use for juggling. The hand-knitted balls are cute and round, yet their flexible nature makes them look like works of modern art.
The "rustling" sound you hear every time the ball is received may also be part of the art.
This is a robot that plays music, created by musician Sylvain Kemon. It will be performing slightly mysterious music live at various places in the venue...

Apparently tiles can also be used as musical instruments. If you line up new and used tiles of various shapes and hit them with a golf ball, they will produce different sounds and can even play musical scales.

The juggling balls, the music, and everything else are not "ordinary." And yet, it doesn't fall into the "difficulty to understand" that is common in contemporary performances. You never know what's going to happen, but you can expect a very free and interesting performance.

His co-star, Guillaume Martinet, like Watanabe, discovered juggling at the age of 20 and is currently active in the popular French juggling company Defracto.

"I met the two members of Head and Mouth through a mutual friend. When they came to Paris, I heard they were looking for a place to stay, so I invited them to my room. We only planned to stay for two or three days, but in the end we ended up living together for about a month (laughs). We talked a lot about juggling and hit it off."

Although they have collaborated on creative projects together, this is their first time performing together on stage. In other words, this is the world premiere of the unit's work. This time, they visited Kyoto and Okinawa with Watanabe and also stayed in the city to create their work.

His Japanese is improving rapidly, so we asked him to write a message for Magcal readers.
The blue letters below are Guillaume's name.
*The text above is a "model" for our staff.

"We want to meet a wide variety of audiences, so please come and see us. There's nothing difficult about it. We just want you to enjoy yourself, and take in the message we're sending you."

This event has ended.
KAAT DANCE SERIES 2019
Yokai Kemame L'esprit des haricots poilus
[Date and time] October 5th (Sat) and 6th (Sun)
10/5 (Sat) 12:00~/17:00~
10/6 (Sun) 12:00~/15:00~
*Doors open 30 minutes before the show starts.
=Childcare services are available. Reservations must be made at least one week before the performance and are subject to a fee (Mothers, TEL: 0120-788-222).
[Venue] KAAT Kanagawa Arts Theatre Large Studio
Cast: Hisashi Watanabe, Guillaume Martinet
[Music and special appearance] Makoto Nomura
[Price] (All seats unreserved) General ¥3,000, Pair ticket ¥5,000, Same-day ticket ¥3,500, 24 years old and under ¥1,500, High school students and under ¥1,000, Seniors (65 years old and over) ¥2,500
*Pair tickets are available at Ticket Kanagawa (advance sale only).
*Discounts for those under 24, high school students and younger, and seniors are available from Ticket Kanagawa (advance sale only, limited numbers, identification required).
[Organizer] KAAT Kanagawa Arts Theatre
[Inquiries] 0570-015-415 (Ticket Kanagawa / 10:00-18:00)
*Preschool children are not allowed to enter.
*If you are coming in a wheelchair, please contact Ticket Kanagawa in advance.
*Resale for commercial purposes is prohibited.