Published in Sunday People, New Sunday Times
16 August 2009
More than mere moves
Photo by Non Tagaki.
Passion is paramount on the floor, a leading Japanese contemporary dancer and choreographer tells MAX KOH
INSIDE one of the dance studios in Akademi Seni Budaya dan Warisan Kebangsaan (Aswara), a diminutive Japanese woman tells the youngsters to let go of any restraint and just dance.
“Feel the energy inside you and dance,” she says.
As she tosses herself around, hands extended and body melded to the soulful strains of a guitar played live, she nudges the group of students on.
Her movement is fluid, her form a culmination of countless years of practice. But she reveals that it is the passion that counts.
“Dancing is like everything in life. It is always with you. What is important is to do it from the heart. This applies to everything you do in life as well,” she says.
She is Ikuyo Kuroda, a leading Japanese contemporary dancer and choreographer who is celebrated for her challenging and brave work the world over.
Kuroda showing her moves at the dance studio in ASWARA.
Kuroda is training with the Aswara students for a new piece to be performed at We’re Gonna Go Dancing!!, a showcase which will feature choreographed pieces by Japanese dancers, to be held at the Experimental Theatre of the academy.
The event is organised by the Japan Foundation Kuala Lumpur, Aswara, Japan Contemporary Dance Network and Embassy of Japan in a bid to bridge ties between the two countries through the art of dance.
Kuroda’s new piece is based on her own show, Last Pie, which she performed with her dance company in Japan in 2005.
“Of course, this is challenging. One week is a very short time to work with. Given the limited time, it is impossible to reach perfection in technique and quality. It usually takes a month of practice to reach perfection,” says Kuroda.
“I am not aiming for perfection in technique or quality. What I tell them to do is to dance with all their heart and soul. I want them to express themselves wholly without holding anything back. A harmony of body and heart.
“I want the troupe to attain that passion, that state of being where the mind begins to forget what the body is doing — when the dancers don’ t think about what they are doing but become a pure form of energy.”
Kuroda will be teaching the ASWARA students on the piece adapted from Last Pie.
This is the theme of the piece adapted from Last Pie. It is, she adds, a reminder about the importance of living life to the fullest in everything she does.
“If you want to dance, dance with all you got. If you want to love someone, love the person with all you got. Every moment is so fleeting in this life that we need to give our best, no matter what we do,” says Kuroda.
“In Last Pie, we see how the dancers are forced to dance until their knees give way and they are tired. Yet, they continue. At that point, they forget about shape, body form or expression. What comes through is the purest form of energy, the purest and most natural of body moment and expression — just pure dance.”
And for that, Kuroda has nothing for praise for the students.
“They are a great bunch. They learn well and give all they have to learn the routine even though it may be something different for some of them,” adds Kuroda.
This is not the first time Kuroda is in Malaysia. She performed with her dance company Batik (no relation to the textile dyeing technique, she just likes how the consonants roll off the tongue) in 2005 for the opening of the Kuala Lumpur Performing Centre in Sentul.
Her showcase then was Shoku, an award-winning piece that explores inner feeling and physical touch through subversive dance. She has performed the piece in Japan and Korea as well.
Kuroda started dancing ballet under the famous Tani Momoko Company in Japan when she was six, and continued dancing until her college years.
A graduate of Laban Centre in London, she started delving into contemporary dance and joined the Kim Itoh + the Glorious Future Company in 2000.
Kuroda has performed and choreographed in many countries since. Her work as a choreographer has won her many national and international awards.
You can catch Last Pie as well as Maki Morishita’s Debutante, Masanori Hoshika’s Returnee, and Headache by P’Lush for We’re Gonna Go Dancing, at Aswara on Aug 20-21. We’re Gonna Go Dancing!! is at Aswara’s Experimental Theatre at 8.30pm. Tickets: RM15/ RM30. Call AXCESS Hotline (03-77115000) or visit www.axcess.com.my.
16 August 2009
More than mere moves
Photo by Non Tagaki.
Passion is paramount on the floor, a leading Japanese contemporary dancer and choreographer tells MAX KOH
INSIDE one of the dance studios in Akademi Seni Budaya dan Warisan Kebangsaan (Aswara), a diminutive Japanese woman tells the youngsters to let go of any restraint and just dance.
“Feel the energy inside you and dance,” she says.
As she tosses herself around, hands extended and body melded to the soulful strains of a guitar played live, she nudges the group of students on.
Her movement is fluid, her form a culmination of countless years of practice. But she reveals that it is the passion that counts.
“Dancing is like everything in life. It is always with you. What is important is to do it from the heart. This applies to everything you do in life as well,” she says.
She is Ikuyo Kuroda, a leading Japanese contemporary dancer and choreographer who is celebrated for her challenging and brave work the world over.
Kuroda showing her moves at the dance studio in ASWARA.
Kuroda is training with the Aswara students for a new piece to be performed at We’re Gonna Go Dancing!!, a showcase which will feature choreographed pieces by Japanese dancers, to be held at the Experimental Theatre of the academy.
The event is organised by the Japan Foundation Kuala Lumpur, Aswara, Japan Contemporary Dance Network and Embassy of Japan in a bid to bridge ties between the two countries through the art of dance.
Kuroda’s new piece is based on her own show, Last Pie, which she performed with her dance company in Japan in 2005.
“Of course, this is challenging. One week is a very short time to work with. Given the limited time, it is impossible to reach perfection in technique and quality. It usually takes a month of practice to reach perfection,” says Kuroda.
“I am not aiming for perfection in technique or quality. What I tell them to do is to dance with all their heart and soul. I want them to express themselves wholly without holding anything back. A harmony of body and heart.
“I want the troupe to attain that passion, that state of being where the mind begins to forget what the body is doing — when the dancers don’ t think about what they are doing but become a pure form of energy.”
Kuroda will be teaching the ASWARA students on the piece adapted from Last Pie.
This is the theme of the piece adapted from Last Pie. It is, she adds, a reminder about the importance of living life to the fullest in everything she does.
“If you want to dance, dance with all you got. If you want to love someone, love the person with all you got. Every moment is so fleeting in this life that we need to give our best, no matter what we do,” says Kuroda.
“In Last Pie, we see how the dancers are forced to dance until their knees give way and they are tired. Yet, they continue. At that point, they forget about shape, body form or expression. What comes through is the purest form of energy, the purest and most natural of body moment and expression — just pure dance.”
And for that, Kuroda has nothing for praise for the students.
“They are a great bunch. They learn well and give all they have to learn the routine even though it may be something different for some of them,” adds Kuroda.
This is not the first time Kuroda is in Malaysia. She performed with her dance company Batik (no relation to the textile dyeing technique, she just likes how the consonants roll off the tongue) in 2005 for the opening of the Kuala Lumpur Performing Centre in Sentul.
Her showcase then was Shoku, an award-winning piece that explores inner feeling and physical touch through subversive dance. She has performed the piece in Japan and Korea as well.
Kuroda started dancing ballet under the famous Tani Momoko Company in Japan when she was six, and continued dancing until her college years.
A graduate of Laban Centre in London, she started delving into contemporary dance and joined the Kim Itoh + the Glorious Future Company in 2000.
Kuroda has performed and choreographed in many countries since. Her work as a choreographer has won her many national and international awards.
You can catch Last Pie as well as Maki Morishita’s Debutante, Masanori Hoshika’s Returnee, and Headache by P’Lush for We’re Gonna Go Dancing, at Aswara on Aug 20-21. We’re Gonna Go Dancing!! is at Aswara’s Experimental Theatre at 8.30pm. Tickets: RM15/ RM30. Call AXCESS Hotline (03-77115000) or visit www.axcess.com.my.
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