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Maki Morishita continues to radiate a rather unique sense of presence in the Japanese dance scene. This time she shows an ambitious solo dance piece based on the four movements of Beethoven\u2019s \u201cDestiny Symphony,\u201d each choreographed by a different person. Their styles are totally different, and one of them is actually a photographer. While the piece was first performed to an existing recording of the music last year at Morishita Studio, this time Maki Morishita\u00a0dances to a live piano performance by Yasuhiko Imanishi. (I didn\u2019t catch the premiere because I wasn\u2019t in Japan at the time, so this was the first time I saw the piece, albeit only as a preview performance on which this review is based.)<\/p>\n
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In charge of the choreography for movement one was MIKIKO, who has been choreographing everything from pop concerts to Olympic ceremonies. Dressed in a black tank top and red short pants, Morishita puts on a long, red and white dress. The tone of Imanishi\u2019s piano is dramatic and heavy as he seems to be hurrying the dancer with his high-pitched attacks. Under a spotlight divided into square areas, Morishita mimes an action of pushing the surrounding \u201cwalls,\u201d but whenever she manages to slip out of one room, that only takes her to another one\u2026 The intention behind this is clear, but it comes across in a very explanatory kind of way. While there is some change in the repetitive action, I catch myself waiting for a moment that instantly changes the mood altogether. However I must say that the charming effect of making effective use of her fingertips goes very well with Morishita\u2019s character.<\/p>\n
Once she finishes dancing, Morishita moves over to a chair and table behind a large vinyl curtain. For movement two (choreographed by Mirai Moriyama), the piano performance slows down to a gentler pace. Morishita reads out a list of strong points about her own face and body, and steps up from behind the vinyl curtain to demonstrate those strengths. The exaggerated poses she strikes while doing so qualify as a form of dance that illustrates again Morishita\u2019s distinctive character.<\/p>\n
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\u00a9Naoki Ishikawa<\/small><\/p>\n
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In charge of the choreography for movement three was photographer Naoki Ishikawa. He initially declined the offer, but when Morishita subsequently called him up, unaware that he had refused, Ishikawa reportedly took her on a tour up to Mt. Fuji. Footage of that climb paves the stage for the movement that Ishikawa eventually choreographed, giving Morishita room to dance with ease for some time, only to let her crawl up the mountain at the end. In the realm of contemporary dance, \u201cmaking something move\u201d is an act that is in itself choreography. In other words, asking someone to \u201cclimb a mountain,\u201d and the person eventually does so with all kinds of body movements, it is an action that has as such been \u201cchoreographed.\u201d In this sense, the piece at large can also be enjoyed as a \u201cchallenge to choreography.\u201d<\/p>\n
Movement four was choreographed by Butoh great Akira Kasai. Wearing a white, loosely fitted dress that shows only her feat, Morishita lowers her gaze, hunches her back, and occasionally walks across the stage while stomping her feet violently on the floor, in a manner as if fighting her destiny. What particularly attracts my attention are the palms of her hands. Throughout the performance, both hands are open, as an expression of what I would interpret as accepting, trying to grasp or imposing destiny, and cherishing herself.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/realtokyo.co.jp\/_sys2024\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/180621211919-580x400.jpeg\")
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\u00a9bozzo <\/small><\/p>\n
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Toward the end, Morishita continues to dance alone even though the music has stopped. That\u2019s probably to communicate the idea that, after all, it\u2019s up to ourselves what we eventually do with our destinies. The performance ends with Morishita standing with both feet firmly planted on the ground, in a spotlight that hits her like the morning sun as it outlines the shapes of her limbs. It was a piece full of challenges, whereas the four choreographers\u2019 very different styles ultimately highlighted the multi-faceted qualities of the artist Maki Morishita.<\/p>\n
Let me also mention that, as if in response to this piece, Morishita proved her mettle in her own lengthy choreography based on the second movement of Beethoven\u2019s \u201c9th\u201d at her company Morishita Stand\u2019s performance last February.<\/p>\n
Translated by Andreas Stuhlmann<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Maki Morishita continues to radiate a rather unique sense of presence in the Japanese dance scene. This […]","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":1228,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[73,82],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/realtokyo.co.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1206"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/realtokyo.co.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/realtokyo.co.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realtokyo.co.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realtokyo.co.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1206"}],"version-history":[{"count":23,"href":"https:\/\/realtokyo.co.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1206\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1242,"href":"https:\/\/realtokyo.co.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1206\/revisions\/1242"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realtokyo.co.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1228"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/realtokyo.co.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1206"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realtokyo.co.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1206"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realtokyo.co.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1206"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}