This summer, the Kanagawa Prefectural Youth Center will be celebrating its 60th anniversary.
The performing company Nibroll will be presenting a new production, "A Journey Without Distance."
The performance will be held at Studio HIKARI, which was renovated in spring 2019 as a space specializing in performances including dance, music, and art, as well as physical expression using the body and voice, and will start outside the theater as a "roaming" performance.
The idea is that the performers and audience are free to walk around and travel together into the theater.
"Outside the theater" is a "plaza" that makes use of the original design concept of Kunio Maekawa, a leading Japanese architect of modernist architecture who also designed the youth center, music hall, and library.
Performances will be held in this square, which was renovated in 2019 just like Studio HIKARI, creating a "journey without distance" where the audience, artists, and the space itself come together. High school students living and studying in Kanagawa Prefecture are also scheduled to participate, and dance and video workshops will also be held as related projects.
A practice session in the square in front of the Youth Center, which was renovated in 2019. The camphor tree in the center is magnificent! Photo courtesy of the Prefectural Youth Center
On the day, we had a packed rehearsal and were limited to about an hour, but we were completely drawn into the artistic and profound world of Yanaihara. Please enjoy!
Artistic and somehow charming! The very charming Yanaihara Photo courtesy of the Prefectural Youth Center
■Please tell us the background behind the creation of the traveling performance "Journey Without Distance"
Well, as a performer I've always worked only on stage, only inside a box...
In fact, I've long wanted to create a work that connects not just the theater space, but the inside and outside, the space and the body, even if only loosely.
Although we've been thinking about it, until now it's been very difficult to make it happen due to requirements such as the number of spectators and other factors.
Meanwhile, the world was faced with the harsh reality of the coronavirus pandemic.
I think that in such harsh conditions, we really felt the importance of our bodies. We felt that our bodies are something that cannot be replaced by anything else, something that cannot be separated from ourselves, and we felt the greatness of their presence, whether we liked it or not.
It was the same for me, and when I started performing on stage I became very concerned about how to position the audience.
Of course, it was a special situation in which we had to maintain distance, but perhaps they felt that the audience was even more distant and separate from them.
That's why I decided to create something where the performers, audience, space, sound, and images were all close together, allowing everyone to express and feel with their whole bodies together.
I was lucky enough to be able to make this happen, even though I was a bit selfish and caused a lot of trouble to the people at the Kanagawa Prefectural Youth Center, who I had a connection with. (laughs)
■What is the ideal positioning of the audience?
How can I put it? It feels a bit like going to an art museum to see art.
This means that visitors won't sit and look at the artworks. They will be able to freely look around at the various wonderful and intriguing works, and feel the voice of the artist or the work itself speaking to them from up close.
So by allowing the same kind of "movement" on stage, I wanted to give both the audience and the performers more freedom of choice.
Isn't the body more amazing than a work of art?! Just by moving your hand, bending your arm, or taking a cup of tea, the space changes. Right? The body is amazing! (laughs)
When you really get to know someone, there are even moments when you can see the life they've lived.
The biggest point of this performance is that the audience is close to the dancers, and they can feel the meaning of the existence of the body, as well as the dancers, in the same way, as if they were "traveling together and reaching the goal together." The change in space is woven with Nibroll-like images and music, and it is interesting to see how different things are felt in each place.
Rehearsal at the "Square" Photo courtesy of the Prefectural Youth Center
■Please tell us about the choreography.
There are four performers in this performance. They are all children who have been working with their bodies, so it should be very interesting to see. To repeat, by having the audience and the performers' bodies exist on the same level, the aim is for the audience to experience the way each performer walks and lives by superimposing it onto their own memories.
In order to avoid becoming too technical like ballet or modern dance, I am conscious of choreography and words that express "life" such as sunlight and light. It is very difficult to connect words and the body (dance), and there are not many people who can do it... I think what I am aiming for is a fusion of dance and theater in the "true sense".
A rehearsal in the "plaza." What are they expressing with their whole bodies? Photo courtesy of the Prefectural Youth Center
Indoor performance rehearsal. Courtesy of Nibroll.
■What is your motivation for getting high school students to participate?
This time, the high school students will take on the role of "trees," and the audience will walk through a hallway lined with trees. There will be a special device that combines sound and video as the audience walks through the hallway, so look forward to it!
I believe that this experience of high school students will greatly influence their lives. I myself was taught in high school that not only technical things, but also more everyday actions, such as opening a window, drinking tea, raising your hand, all of these are connected to dance. I definitely think that I would not have become a dancer if I had not had that experience.
I think I want to teach people to move freely when they feel like it.
I would be happy if even just one person is born who can shine in this industry in the future (laughs).
Thank you, Yanaihara-san!
>■Nibroll "Journey without Distance" Performance Information
Cast: Moe Aoki, Takahiro Hosoya, Emi Koyama, Anna Kuroda
Direction and choreography: Mikuni Yanaihara
Video, lighting and art direction: Keisuke Takahashi
Music: Skunk
Costumes: Yosuke Tanaka
Visual and lighting assistant: David Kirkpatrick
Advertising art: Keisuke Takahashi
Produced by Izumi Kasagi
Cooperation: Kinki University Yanaihara Laboratory Murasaki Penguin
Date and Time
Friday, July 22nd 17:00
July 23 (Saturday) 13:00 17:00
July 24th (Sunday) 13:00 17:00
*The performance is scheduled to last approximately 60 minutes.
venue
Prefectural Youth Center Studio HIKARI
Fee
General advance ticket: 3,000 yen
General admission: 3,500 yen
Under 18s: Advance tickets and tickets on the day: 1,500 yen (present ID showing age on the day)
*This performance will be a roaming performance.
*Outdoors is standing room only, but all seats inside Studio HIKARI are unreserved.
*In case of rain or bad weather, the event will be held only at Studio HIKARI.
