Momoko Shirakami x Yukina Sakai “A dance full of surprise and betrayal performed by two people who appear to be opposites but have something in common”

― Encounter of two people ―

―Please tell us your impressions of each other.
 
Shirakami : I had a sneak peek at Mr. Sakai. I thought it was cute (laughs). If my work is a dull one, it gives a smart impression. I longed for it. There were some near misses, such as performing in the same space one after the other, and there were no exchanges even though we had the opportunity to see the work. I saw a group dance work for the first time last year. In the first half, I was proceeding with the image I had in mind (to Mr. Sakai), but there was a scene like a festival in the second half. There was a moment when I felt like I could enter into myself, and I thought, "I might like it" and "I can talk to you!".
 
Sakai : “We Live, Dust” that was performed at the Noge Petri dish (June 2012). I'd like to use the 4th movement of Beethoven's 5th Symphony and scatter dust and vacuum it up.
 
Shirakami : I think we have something in common, such as being able to talk or something we like. There are things I like about watching the movement. But I can't make it myself, I can't make it.
 
Sakai : Mr. Shirakami is a person who creates warm and friendly works. His personality is relaxed and has an image of a curmudgeon. It has a relaxed feel to it.
 
Shirakami : I thought Mr. Sakai was stylish.
 
Sakai : I'm pretty clumsy. Dangerous (laughs).
 
Shirakami : I thought so when we started practicing together (laughs). Whoa? ! and!
 
Sakai : Mr. Shirakami creates works with a sense of atmosphere that you cannot create yourself. The foundation is solid and the dance is well choreographed.
 
Momonga Complex has a catchphrase of "dance performance", but I think it's someone who can choreograph intricately.
 


"We are alive, dust" @ Noge Petri dish 2012
Photo: Ryuichiro SUZUKI


<span style="color: #808080;" "Night in June" @ST Spot 2010 photo: Kenki IIDA
 

― Interest and Motivation in Creation –

―What do you usually keep in mind when choreographing?
 
Sakai : Even though I say choreography, I don't have any interest or obsession with creating movements. Rather than being interested in the body itself, I create stage works that are conscious of the space in which they are performed, and works that are conscious of space. I am interested in the appearance of people and how to arrange bodies and objects spatially. I'm interested in the moment when you can see the story or emotions from there. Rather than converting the dynamics of the body and the energy from the inside into choreography, the image is to create a landscape painting with a drawing.
My own aesthetics is how to set up the body/light/sound to match the mood of the space and bring out its potential. Rather than a big message, I create beautiful images, hoping to have a moment that resonates with the viewer.
Rather than being interested in the body itself, I create stage works that are conscious of the space in which they are performed, and works that are conscious of space. I am interested in the appearance of people and how to arrange bodies and objects spatially.
 
―Certainly, there are aspects of choreograph that go beyond just choreographing.
 
Sakai : Arranging people, even if there are no people, just placing cups is choreography and dance in my mind. I don't think anyone would say such a thing, but...
 
―What about Shirakami-san?
 
Shirakami : I can't dance... I'm not the type to say I can't dance. Even if someone tells me, "You're dancing, aren't you? Dance!" That's why I'm particular about the motivation and trigger to start dancing. There are times when I make the dancer dance suddenly in the production, but even in that case I create something like an introduction. Thinking of something to start dancing.
Also, I'm going to make a gap for people and get rid of armor-like things. Make it naked and consistent. I want to be in a state where I have nothing to protect myself from. I'm particular about how I dance from the moment I get to the stage, but I'm not wearing armor, or I'm trying to be smart, but I realize I'm not wearing pants.
 
Sakai : At first glance, it feels like it's dreary, but it's heartbreakingly earnest.
 
Shirakami : It seems like he's willing to become a duck (laughs). It's like dying.
 
Sakai : I want to be a duck too!
 
Shirakami : (The rehearsal has started) I'm already stuck (laughs).
 

― Choreography and being choreographed ―

―This time, both of you will choreograph solos for each other, but are you still different as a choreographer and as a dancer?
 
Shirakami : The desire of a dancer and the desire of a director are completely different. I have performed in my own works, but I have the dilemma that if I were a dancer from outside, I might not want to appear.
Lately, I've gradually come to feel like, "If you want to dance, you can dance." Until a while ago, I didn't use ballet choreography. I like ballet, but I don't want to see it from the director's point of view if I act like a ballet. I saw it as taboo. When I appear in other people's works, I try to be stoic (appeared in Maki Tabata's "Tabama Kikaku" and Yuta Ishikawa's "egMILK").
 

 

Momonga Complex "The secret is vague." @ Yamate Goethe Theater 2013 Photo: Sisters Kitagawa
 
Sakai : I am completely different. When I'm given a theme and think about the choreography, it's first of all different when I create my own work. It's different when you dance your own solo and when you're choreographed by a choreographer. When I dance my own solos, there are many live performances where I improvise with the music, so I don't do detailed choreography. After discussing the general flow and structure of the piece, I make a rule to say, ``Let's not do this,'' and then dance. I feel something from the environment, such as the sound at that time, the distance from the audience, and start dancing. It's a sense of doing it with the determination to stand up, competing with your own body that emerges after tuning from the inside to the outside situation.
It's fun to get choreography from a choreographer and dance to it. It's interesting to break down the choreography in your own way and say, "Because Yukina Sakai dances, it will be like that!" I can have fun with a choreographer who accepts “something” that only I can create.
 

 
―Please tell us how you felt after the rehearsals started.
 
Shirakami : Both (choreographing and being choreographed) are me. like a mirror I talk with Mr. Sakai every time. I have time to review myself, to input what I am good at, and to make choices that I always do, and then to output.
The choreographer is throwing out everything that goes into his hobby. When I make it myself, I tend to worry about the amount, but I don't worry about that and I let them dance as much as I can.
 
Sakai : When I got the offer, I thought, "I'm going to choreograph Shirakami-san, who doesn't feel relieved!" (laughs). At first, I was only thinking about attracting people I was good at. However, while I was actually watching Shirakami-san's body at the rehearsal room and trying out various things, I thought it might be okay to have Shirakami-san dance, so I could create a choreography and work tone.
There is a hint that the choreographer Sakai will be able to show a different side of himself, saying, "I'm going to do this kind of choreography!" As a dancer, I hope Mr. Shirakami will bring out a new me.
 
―What do you think about when you say, “Let’s bring out a new side of you as a choreographer”?
 
Sakai : Mr. Shirakami is the owner of an exquisite space, so if you give him even a little bit of space, it will become "Shirakami taste". While trying not to create that gap, I would like to be careful about how to create a gap and how to direct it. Normally, it's more fun to style something that suits the person, but if I do that this time, I'll be pulled because the dancer has a strong personality and appearance.
In the end, it's funny, but as a choreographer, it's a little frustrating when it comes to "It was the usual Shirakami-san." Our goal is to say, "You've never seen Mr. Shirakami before, and it was interesting as a work, wasn't it?"
 

 
―How did Shirakami-san react?
 
Shirakami : It would be nice if I could show a new side as a choreographer and a dancer. If you make it while discussing it, it will be "I have never done this ...". I am challenging. Sakai-san's armor has been largely removed (laughs). I'm the type to go to hell, so I have to go to the bottom, the bottom (laughs).
As for Mr. Sakai, I want him to be in a state where he doesn't realize that he's already fallen into hell. I'm a smart person, so I can sense the hellish state and do it as it is, so I think "Maybe I'm pretty cool!?" smile).
 
Sakai : I think I'm cool because I'm pretty misunderstood (laughs).
 

- What is the meaning behind the "stick" -

―Where did the name of the performance “Stick & uS!!” ~Stick and us~ come from?
 
Shirakami : I wanted a momentum like Stick & uS!! rod! (laughs) I feel like I need a spirit or spirit. good! (laughs)
 
Sakai : Decide in a meeting between the two of us and report after the fact (laughs).
 
―You actually use a stick, right?
 
Sakai : Yes. Also, as Mr. (Katsuhiro) Ohira of ST Spot Yokohama wrote in the leaflet, the theme is to "seek motivation from the outside." We spin the story using something from the outside, not just what comes from the inside. Being choreographed is also a stimulus from the outside. Shirakami-san and I think that the characters are different, but we have a lot in common, such as using a lot of props.
In the work Shirakami performed at the Yamate Goethe Theater (“Himitsu mo, vague memory” March 2013), there was a scene in which a dancer was running with a stick. I also have a work with a scene where I drag a stick ("Deaf Pearl / Night in June", June 2010, Yokohama Creative City Center). I think they both used sticks (laughs). I think that (through the use of sticks) the audience will be interested in the different interpretations I have as a choreographer.
 
"Hearing-impaired pearl" @ YCC 2010 photo: Kenki IIDA

- Being aware of space -

―This time, the performance is organized by ST Spot Yokohama Steep Slope Studio and co-sponsored by Yokohama City as part of a project called "SS Simple Stories". It is based on "minimum (simple) technical work and reenactment". In October, it will be performed at the affiliated KAAT Kanagawa Arts Theater middle studio, and in February next year, it will be performed again at ST Spot Yokohama.
 
Sakai : The scale of the venue is different.
 
Shirakami : I can no longer fit into ST...
 
Sakai : We are both conscious of that when we are making it. While vaguely predicting that I would start in a big place first and then move on to a smaller one.
 
―Even though you both have different styles, I get the impression that you are always conscious of “space” when creating your work. I think I'm making it while clarifying the image.
 
Sakai : I can't create without a concrete image of the space.
 
Shirakami : I have an image, or rather, "If it were there, it would be like this," "I want you to go here," and "This song would suit you."
 
Sakai : That's right. The way the music resonates differs depending on the size of the space, and with this size, the song may sound white. Balance, isn't it?
 
KAAT can put this on, but ST has something like... There is also a reverse pattern.
 

 

― The scariest place is the theater –

―There are many art spots in Kanagawa, such as wonderful museums. I do a lot of work in such spaces. I don't know if this work can be performed outside of theaters and halls, but is there a big difference between dancing and creating in a theater and not?
 
Sakai : The sense of distance is different. On the stage, it depends on how you use it, but basically it's a face-to-face type. When it comes to events, I dance in situations where there is a sudden crowd or there are eyes behind me. I can feel the gaze from various places. I have many opportunities to dance outside of the stage, and I'm good at it. However, choreography is different.
 
Shirakami : As a director, I don't have a rebellious spirit towards spaces that aren't theaters, but I'm the type to take advantage of it and get fired up. The walls are green, but there are pillars, and there are mosquitoes outside. But when it comes to actually dancing, the theater is scary.
 
Sakai : There is no escape...
 
Shirakami : Face-to-face theaters are the scariest. You can get lost outside. To put it the other way around, I'm good at the scariest places.
 
Q: KAAT's medium studio is a large space, so whether you choreograph a solo or be choreographed, you have to face it. You may be cornered.
 
Shirakami : I'm pretty cornered.
 
Sakai : I'm not worried about the dance piece because I'm entrusting myself to Mr. Shirakami's direction. How the choreographer builds it with just one body. It looks like it will be a simple and original creation that takes care of what you wear, lighting and music. body! It's not like, how can you create a space with a scent?
 
 

- A work full of fresh surprises that shows the personality of the two people -

―Finally, please give a message and aspirations to the customers.
 
Sakai : I hope you enjoy the difference between the two works.
 
Shirakami : I want people who don't know the two of them to say, "Oh, I know their personalities," or "I know their personalities." Also, I hope you will find it purely funny. I'm doing it with the feeling of grabbing a straw, so please come by!
 
Sakai : It would be great if we could show a new surprise and betrayal to those who have seen the two's work and dance. I am more conscious than usual so that even those who watch it for the first time can enjoy it. I will do my best so that those who are attracted to the project will leave with the impression that it was fun! !
 

 
I went to a place recommended by the two of you! Editor's Note
After the interview, Magcal asked the two of them about their favorite places in Kanagawa Prefecture and recommended shops. First of all, the commonality of the place that came out from the two is "nature". Mr. Sakai likes Chigasaki, and Mr. Shirakami likes Miura Beach. Mr. Sakai is from Chigasaki, and recommended Chigasaki, which has a lot of nature such as Satoyama Park.
Satoyama Park is a park that was born to protect the scenery called Satoyama, where the Yatoda is surrounded by a thicket of trees and where people live in harmony with nature. I was. Just taking a walk while enjoying nature is a good way to refresh yourself.
Personally, I was worried about the 70m "wind slide", but it was very popular with children, so I refrained from using the good adult Magcal Staff.
 

 
The nature-rich park was really pleasant.
□ Chigasaki Satoyama Park
http://www.kanagawa-park.or.jp/satoyama/guide.html
 
 
Mr. Shirakami recommended the tuna specialty restaurant “Kappo Ryokan Tachibana” near Misakiko Station, where he stopped by when he went to Miura Beach to see the sea.
Mr. Shirakami recommends "Kama no Tatsutaage (840 yen including tax)". As soon as you put it in your mouth, the fat-laden Kama meat has a rich flavor and no odor. Then, with the kindness of the president, "I'm sorry," I also had "Karaage with skin (577 yen including tax)". Feeling is no longer skin but meat! It was a dish I had never eaten before! The shop staff are also very friendly.
Please stop by when you visit Misaki Port.
 

 
From the left of the photo, "Kama no Tatsuta-age" and "Kama-no-karaage"
 

 
What a five-story building!
 
□ Tuna restaurant "Kappo Ryokan Tachibana"
http://www7.ocn.ne.jp/~tacibana/
5-1-16 Misaki, Miura City, Kanagawa Prefecture 238-0243
TEL: 046-881-2158
Fax: 046-881-2159