Films
Costume in Front (Shōmen no ishō, 1976) was choreographed by Hijikata for Moe Yamamoto as principal dancer. It was one of the later serial performances (renzoku kōen), which Hijikata had been creating since 1974. These performances allowed for the intensive development of his notational language. Unusually, we have notation for both the solo sections by Yamamoto and extant notation for the chorus recorded by Yukio Waguri making it possible to examine the works choreographic structure in detail. A bilingual publication of Yamamoto’s rehearsal notes for this work was published by Ugly Duckling Press in 2015.
First Flower (Saisho no hana, 1978) was choreographed by Hijikata for Momoko Nimura as principal dancer. Nimura, along with Yōko Ashikawa and Saga Kobayashi, was one of the main dancers to perform in his major works from the early 1970s onwards. The piece contains solo sections for Nimura as well as duet scenes with Moe Yamamoto, for which Yamamoto kept a detailed notational record. Yamamoto will be drawing on this record, along with his notation for Costume in Front and other works, in his performance lecture between screenings.
Human Shape (Hitogata, 1976) was one of Hijikata’s final serial performances (renzoku kōen) choreographed by Hijikata with his lead dancer Yōko Ashikawa as principal. This performance, along with Lady on a Whale String (Geisenjō no okugata, 1976) are often considered to represent the culmination of his choreographic work using notation. Along with other works from the serial performances, their choreography was part of the first international staging of Hijikata’s work abroad, at the Paris Festival d’Automne MA: Espace-temps au Japon in 1978.
Bitter Light (Nigai hikari, 1977) was choreographed by Hijikata for Saga Kobayashi as principal dancer. Kobayashi had worked with Hijikata intensively from the late 1960s to mid-1970s in the formative years of his work with notation. She returned to work with him for this performance, for which she meticulously recorded the rehearsals and final choreography in two notebooks. Kobayashi will be drawing on these historical documents in her performance lecture prior to the screening.
These archival screenings are made possible through the collaboration of the Tatsumi Hijikata Archive and the Video Information Center (VIC) Collection (supported by the Agency for Cultural Affairs in Japan Support Program to Promote Archives of Media Arts 2024: Digitizing and Cataloging of Performance and Exhibition Video Records from the post-1970s II), both housed by Keio University Art Center. VIC (1972–) is a movement that recorded various events to produce experimental TV broadcasts such as the 1977-78 “Cable Paravision-ten” CATV broadcast. The six founding members and representatives were Yusuke Ito, Yasuhiko Suga, Takashi Noyama, Makoto Naiki, Soichi Ishii, and Ichiro Tezuka. VIC’s video library consists of approximately 1200 videotapes, mostly made during the 1970s and the 1980s, documenting performing arts practices such as theatrical, dance and live musical performances, exhibitions, and artists working on their art.
Dancing Lecture
Nach – Nulle part est un endroit. Energy, emotion, rhythm: in this “dancing lecture”, Nach narrates and shows the origin, style and expressiveness of krumping, an urban dance that originated in the early 2000s in the suburb of Watts, Los Angeles, as a form of protest by the African-American community. A powerful, intense, visceral and precise dance that incorporates violence through body language to free itself from it. Nach’s choreographic journey begins with krumping, a movement she followed for a decade, sharing its struggles and eventually approaching other aesthetics and different “expressions of transcendence”. Flamenco, Butō and Kathakali become part of this spontaneous creation that takes its title from a sculpture by Richard Baquié: an inscription made with pieces of metal, broken mirrors and black and white photographs of unknown alleys. An overlapping of unrelated elements guides Nach on this journey: no space is her space; her identity is not tied to a specific place but belongs to the “non-identity” of the world’s suburbs.
