improvisation workshop that ended with a dance jam. The teacher was Ingo Rosencratz (pictured on the left), from Germany, and the students were about 1o dancers from the local area (although one had to travel by shinkansen, i think), one visiting from Canada, and Cara and me. The mix was mostly women with anywhere from two to four men at different times. The workshop was held in a black box theatre in the Osaka Municipal Arts Center.The first day, Saturday, we focused on having a solid, physical connection with our partners, and the various movement and lifts that can use that connection. We began by rolling across the floor using our centers (the muscles just under your belly button) with our partner's guidance. Then, various games of leading each other by the hand. A particularly interesting exercise was when one placed their hand on their partner's shoulder, closed their eyes, and followed their partner. The partner would walk, run, crawl, and jump while the partner followed blindly, with only a dim sense of light change and invisible objects moving around them. Next, we learned different ways of walking while connected with our partner and lifting our partner onto our backs, sides, shoulders, and etc. We ended with free dancing.
The second day, Sunday, took a creative turn- today was more about finding one's own movement quality (the internal), being inspired to create by external stimuli, and doing all of this while moving in and out of contact with other people. This day was amazing. We played in solo, duet, trio, and quartet like autistic children romping around in a playground. However, it was important to maintain the our own qualities and stay committed to curiousities as well as feel, support, and draw inspiration from our partners. The day ended with a two-hour free dance jam.
One interesting exercise was standing across the room from your partner, and facing him. Ingo instructs us to take in this human being in front of us. Next, you and your partner walk toward each other, and stop at the distance that feels appropriate. If one person gets to close, the other can back away. And both parties can play with speed, how this space is maintained. My partner was a roughly 35 to 40-yr-old man in glasses. When we began, I could see his eyes tense, and his body question how much to walk towards me. As the exercise continued, my face relaxed, and I could see his face do the same. As we tested the distance that was comfortable between us (about a meter?) his face became ten years younger. We had some good dances after this.
There were two familiar faces - two j.a.m. dance theatre company members. Also, there were at least three people from the contemporary dance company Monochrome Circus, which also runs the "Hot Summer in Kyoto" workshop. Butoh dancers, contemporary dancers, and people interested in free movement all attended. During a water break, an interesting point of conversation was that one man in the workshop cut down trees as a living, while another man made wooden furniture in a small shop in kyoto.
Contact Improvisation is relatively new for me, since I have been doing it for little under a year, and I was rather nervous at times. Because of this, I was very caught up in myself and not paying the best attention to those around me. I considered talking to Ingo afterwards, asking him about contact dance in relation to Japan, and his experience in teaching workshops in Japan... and somehow the very idea of it seemed racist. There was nothing particulary different about the workshop because it was held in Japan or taken by many Japanese people, except for maybe the fact that there were only 14 or so students. It was a dance workshop with other people, with energies and feelings and qualities. And they are each different, with experience travelling and living in other places, a sensitivity to art and movement, and a different career/life path.
The main players of Monochrome Circus are Yuko Mori and Kosei Sakamoto (pictured on right), and they were also two of the students in the workshop. Founded in 1990, this contemporary dance company focuses on communication, contact improvisation, and stage work that "reflects urban Japanese life and society." I want to run away and join the Monochrome Circus.
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