Everyday life and festivals. Exploring the appeal of the Tokyo Art Triennale with Serina Mottola.
The Tokyo Performing Arts Festival is currently being held in Ikebukuro. To make it easier for people who are not accustomed to seeing theater and dance to attend, the festival offers free programs and a varied lineup of dance, theater, and traditional performing arts programs. As a representative of the audience, we asked Ms. Serina Mottola, who does not usually have frequent opportunities to see plays, to give us a glimpse of the Tokyo Performing Arts Festival. Motola is a model active in a variety of fields, including magazines and advertisements, and has recently been gaining more attention as an actress with her leading role in the movie "Shojo KAIKO" and a challenging role in NHK's "Transparent Cradle." She began learning hip-hop in the 6th grade and was a member of the dance club at her high school. She is now in the third year of the Tokyo Performing Arts Festival's new direct-controlled program, which includes an "Adult Version of Yumemiru Chikara," a contemporary dance performance with women selected by audition, both professional and amateur, and "The Sky is Measured by Wings," a piece by Shizuoka junior and senior high school students. We also interviewed Ms. Mottola, who is stepping into a new field from modeling to acting, about how she perceives physical expression, as well as highlights of the Tokyo Performing Arts Festival.
Launched in 2016, the Tokyo Arts Festival is an urban comprehensive arts festival that offers a diverse lineup of theater, dance, performance, and traditional performing arts, sometimes using Ikebukuro, home to the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Space and many other theaters, as a stage for the city itself.
The highlight of this year's Tokyo Performing Arts Festival will be two open-air plays, both of which will be staged in Ikebukuro Nishiguchi Park. The "Open-Air Play: Three-Penny Opera," performed by an auditioned Japanese cast selected by Italian director Corsetti, is not only available for one coin (500 yen), but also has a free area (one-coin tickets are sold out). Small Metal Objects," also at Westgate Park, is a site-specific play by the Australian theater company Back to Back Theatre, featuring six actors with intellectual disabilities. The audience is invited to put on headphones and listen to the conversational drama of the actors playing somewhere amongst the hustle and bustle of the city, while being transported to a very private drama. For more information on this 31-program, 100-day performing arts festival, please visitOfficial SiteCheck with the
Merlan Niyakam / choreographer, dancer, singer, actor, leader of La Calvus Company.
She joined the National Ballet of Cameroon at the age of 14 and became a principal dancer at 16. 1990 she founded her own dance company, which has won various awards. 1992 she moved to France, where she has performed in numerous productions with the Montalvo Hervue Company and others. Since 2010, he has been involved in the SPAC-ENFANTS project, in which he works with auditioned junior and senior high school students in Shizuoka to create full-scale works.
What are the tricks of the two performances that Mr. Niyakam is working on?
First, we will talk about Niyakamu's work for the Tokyo Performing Arts Festival, and then we will ask him about what he expresses through dance and his passion for dance.
The Sky is Measured by Its Wings" (Photo by Yasuo Inokuma)
Niyakamu will be involved in two performances: "The Sky is Measured by Wings" by SPAC-ENFANTS, a dance company of 12 Shizuoka middle and high school students selected by audition, and "Adult Edition The former is a performance of the process of self-formation. The former is about adolescents, who are in the midst of the process of forming their selves. What kind of project is Spacanfan?
niyacamFirst of all, Spacanfan is for 13- to 16-year-olds, or adolescents, who are searching for who they are now. It is as if we are providing these children, who will be shaping themselves in the future, with the elements to shape themselves through art. Adolescence is a time when they think a lot about themselves and sometimes lack self-confidence. I try to provide them with as many materials as possible to help them shape themselves so that they can have confidence in themselves.
On the other hand, those who are 55 years old or older have already had a lot of life experience and are, in a sense, mature adults.
niyacamYou may think that "The Sky is Measured by Its Wings" and the adult version of "Yume Miru Chikara" are completely different works, but they are actually the same. Especially in the dance world, people tend to think that people over 55 years old are finished in terms of age, and they themselves are of a generation that has been forced to think that way. I want to convey the message that, in contrast to what society would have us believe, we are a generation that still has power, still has a lot to do, and still has energy and youthfulness left in us.
It may be time for the 55+ performers in the adult version to form a second identity, so to speak.
Niyakam Japanese women have always lived modestly, haven't they? I think that is the charm of Japanese culture and a wonderful thing. On the other hand, however, I think that there is also social oppression, and I think that the women themselves may feel inadequate. I want to convey the message that the power of art can liberate those parts of the body that cannot be dissipated in daily life, and that they can be set free. If you see the adult version, I think you will be very surprised, but in a good way.
On this day, a special one-on-one workshop between Ms. Niyakam and Ms. Mottola was held. The workshop began with a warm-up to loosen up the body, and then the participants tried out different walking styles with Mottola, a model, and danced to music, skillfully going through the stages and riding the waves to release themselves naturally and step by step.
Voice is another form of physical expression.
During the workshop, I could see from Mottola's expression that she was gradually enjoying herself. Mottola-san used to do hip-hop dance when he was a student.
motolaI went to school from elementary school to junior high school, but in high school I was in a club so there were no teachers. We made a team together and figured out what kind of dance we were going to do by ourselves.
niyacamThat is a very good thing. My contemporary dance is exactly the same: I improvise, and everyone brings their own ideas to the dance. Dance is not for the elite, but for everyone. It is the same in every country; we dance for prayers and festivals. I want to bring dance back as something for everyone.
For Mottola, is dance a form of self-expression, or is it just fun to dance? Which is it?
motolaI have always liked to move my body, but I don't really like to compete with others to determine rankings. Rather, I preferred to express myself by moving my body and presenting my work. That is why I started dancing.
In the workshop, you mentioned that "voice is another form of physical expression," and Mr. Niyakam also told you to "speak up more. I wondered if you are a quiet type of person when you talk like this.
motolaWhen I started acting, many people would say to me, "I didn't know you had this kind of voice. After meeting Mr. Niyakam today, I realized once again that voice is a part of physical expression. But today's workshop was a bit embarrassing (laughs). I was staring at the people around me and dancing alone with Mr. Niyakamu.
niyacamThere are many things that can be understood by others by speaking out loud. It is certainly difficult to express yourself vocally, so I think it is easier to express yourself freely with your body.
motolaWhen I started doing acting work, I was conscious that everyone was watching me at first, so there was a part of me that couldn't get out of my true self. ...... But gradually, by playing a different person, I was able to get out of myself and become more free, and I was able to forget my shyness.
niyacamPartly due to cultural factors, Japanese people do not speak very loudly, and their bodies do not relax. But after participating in my workshops, everyone becomes relaxed. Mr. Miyagi, the general director of the Tokyo Art Festival, was also surprised by this.
We meet in the usual park in a happening way.
Mottola, do you ever go to see a play or stage production?
motolaI don't go often, but sometimes. The last time I went to the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Space to see "Let's Get Rid of Books and Go to Town," which was written and directed by Takahiro Fujita of Marm and Gypsy fame.
So you have been to the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Space and Ikebukuro Nishiguchi Park, where the Tokyo Arts Festival is held?
motolaIkebukuro is close to my house, so when I was a student, it was my playground. I was a bit hesitant to walk alone at night in Nishiguchi Park because of the image of "all kinds of people" (laughs). But I think it's great that interesting people from Japan and other countries gather in such a place to do theater and dance. I think it is interesting that not only do people go somewhere else, but also that theater performances are held in a park where anyone can come and watch them freely.
An open-air music theater with one-coin tickets and a free viewing area makes it easy for people who don't usually see much theater to go. Admission to both Niyakam's performances is also free.
niyacamThere are those who create theater productions in which the stage is separated from the audience, or in which there is a barrier between the stage and the audience, but I want to remove all barriers and create a stage where the audience feels as if they are with the actors. The audience is a part of the actors.
It's not just about watching, he said.
niyacamThe audience comes alive when we participate with each other, and I am aiming for a living performing art form.
motolaI recently saw a musical at the Akasaka ACT Theater produced by a theater unit called Chikyu Gorgeous. It was a very long show, but with all the dancing and singing, I felt like I was in the middle of the attraction from beginning to end. When you see it up close, you can really feel the power of the performance. Before a performance, we go through a process of trial and error, and during the performance, we are doing things that require a lot of energy every day. I was moved by that energy, and I wanted to do it too. I thought that even if I just went to the Tokyo Performing Arts Festival, I could encounter something with that kind of power. That sounds like a lot of fun.
Tokyo Art Festival 2018
Dates: September 1 (Saturday) - December 9 (Sunday), 2018 (100 days in total)
Venues: Tokyo Metropolitan Art Space, Aurusupot (Toshima Performing Arts Center), Ikebukuro West Exit Park, Minami Ikebukuro Park, etc. tokyo-festival.jp
