New style group "MWno's" has announced a homecoming performance.
MWno's, the group that won the Grand Prize in the theater competition at the Kanagawa Short Play Awards 2022, will be holding a commemorative performance from December 14th to 17th, 2023, at Studio HIKARI in the Kanagawa Prefectural Youth Center. This time, we interviewed the three people who wrote and directed the play to find out what to look forward to.
Two dance companies come together
'ROBIN', which won the Grand Prix, was MWno's debut work, exploring and creating a new form of fusion between dance and theater.
ROBIN: Anxiety and conflict
MWno's: To be honest, we were surprised when we won the grand prize.
In a competition for short plays, we had anxieties and struggles about whether our work, which incorporated a lot of dance, would even be seen as a play.
—I think 'ROBIN' was a fitting work for this award, which recognizes the challenge of new forms of theater.
Uemura: I usually work in the field of dance, so I was genuinely happy to receive such a positive response. It might be the reverse of what would normally happen, but winning this award has made me think more deeply about the unique characteristics of MWno's as an organization. Dance isn't a genre where you don't speak at all, but I believe that there is a world you can reach precisely because you have faced expression in a world with few words.
—Were there any other things that left a strong impression on you?
Kubo: It was inspiring to be able to see theatrical works by people of our generation, even if only through a monitor. As we are relatively new to collaborating, it was a good opportunity to reconsider our own style, theater, dance, and expression.
Takahashi: The Kanagawa Short Play Awards results were announced through a public judging process, not just a simple announcement of the results, so we were very interested to see how our work would be evaluated as a theatrical piece. Ultimately, we won the Grand Prix, and at first, it didn't quite feel real, but as MWno's, we were able to discover new ways of expression and creation, so I'm glad we took on the challenge.
Dance as a Language: A Full-Length Work "Hitoguramu Hito"
MWno's: "Hitogram People" is a piece themed around "transforming casual conversations into something significant through diverse expressions," and this will be its first public performance. The connection to "ROBIN" is also one of the highlights, and this will be the first time that the three members of MWMW and the two members of Von・no's will be working together as a group of five.
Uemura: We described MWMW x Von・no's as a double-whammy performance of dance and theater in the leaflet, and it truly is on a larger scale, so we hope you'll enjoy it, feel warm and fuzzy, laugh, and be a little surprised. We tried to respect the strengths of both groups' approaches, ideas, and perspectives as much as possible, and we created it with the important principle that there are always three possible answers. Since it's a work that can be interpreted in three different ways, we hope that the audience will also come up with their own answers.
—It's fascinating how much attention to detail there is. Are there any other highlights?
MWno's: To be honest, winning the Grand Prix for 'ROBIN' was what gave us a chance to understand our own identity. Theater is expressed through words, and dance is expressed through the body. So, what would happen if we considered dance as a language? Winning the Grand Prix made us realize, "This is what theater created by dancers can look like," and it gave us a sense of clarity about our own style of expression.
Takahashi: As we were creating the piece, I felt that it was more of a multiplication than a addition, not leaning towards one side or the other, but rather a dance x theater piece, and I want to deliver this as one form of expression. I think it's a piece that people who aren't usually familiar with dance or theater can enjoy, and I also want people who are involved in dance or theater to see it.
The uncut version of "ROBIN" is also available on YouTube, so you might enjoy it even more if you check that out before coming to the venue.
—Finally, please tell us about your enthusiasm for this performance in Yokohama, Kanagawa.
Uemura: When I was little, Yokohama meant Chinatown. After learning about the Yokohama Dance Collection, I realized that many art events are held in Yokohama, and my impression of it changed to that of an arts city. As a port city, it also has an image of being a place where people interact with each other. It's an honor to be able to perform my work in such a vibrant and lively area, and I'm really excited about it.
Kubo: Yokohama has many venues like KAAT Kanagawa Arts Theatre, Kanagawa Prefectural Hall, Yokohama Red Brick Warehouse, as well as numerous small theaters and art spaces, giving it the impression of being a city that puts a lot of effort into the arts. We are also very much looking forward to performing in Yokohama. This time, we will be performing during the Yokohama International Performing Arts Meeting 2023 (YPAM2023), an arts festival, so we would be happy if people could come and see MWno's performance as they hop between various venues, like going to a food stall.
Takahashi: We've performed our dance works in various locations around Yokohama before, but this time we're participating in the Yokohama International Performing Arts Meeting 2023 (YPAM2023) and will be able to perform as part of the fringe program during that period. It's a chance for more people to learn about our work. We'll have audiences coming from overseas, so I hope this will be a stepping stone for us to spread our wings from Yokohama to the world.
《MWno's》
"Jinguramu Hito" special page: here
Full version of the winning work "ROBIN" (YouTube): here
MWno's "People Who Grab"
Date and time: December 14th (Thursday) to December 17th (Sunday), 2023
Venue: Kanagawa Prefectural Youth Center Studio HIKARI [9-1 Momijigaoka, Nishi-ku, Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture]
Written, directed, and choreographed by: Moeto Takahashi, Yuki Uemura, and Kae Kubo
Cast: Moe Takahashi, Yuki Uemura, Kae Kubo, Atsuyo Kanamori, Yuki Nakatani
《MWMW》
Instagram: here
YouTube channel: here
《Von・noz》
Instagram: here
