DANCE

Home > DANCE > Tyler, Tyler

• Tweet
• Outlook
• ICAL
• PRINT
• Email
• Feedback

• RSS

• Official Website
• Buy Tickets
• Add to My Favorites

Tyler, Tyler

Presented by DiverseWorks ArtSpace at DiverseWorks ArtSpace

October 14-October 16, 2010

Add Review/Comment
Comment on Facebook

DiverseWorks presents choreographer Yasuko Yokoshi and Japanese performers Kayo Seyama, Kuniya Sawamura, and Asaji Naoki in the regional premiere of Tyler Tyler, October 14-16 at 7:30 p.m. at Diverseworks ArtSpace.

In this latest project Yasuko Yokoshi's resumes her artistic partnership with Masumi Seyama, revered master teacher of Kabuki Su-Odori dance and the heir to the legacy of Kanjyuro Fujima VI, one of the renowned Kabuki choreographers of the 20th Century in Japan. Together they deconstruct new choreographic material from Fujima's classical dance repertories. Yokoshi and Seyama dare to face boundaries of different training, cultural code and social hierarchy yet simultaneously desire to cherish the forms and beauty of universal language of dance.

Yasuko Yokoshi’s art-making explores the complex interconnectedness of culture and history that frames our perspective of contemporary life. Her inspiration for Tyler Tyler comes from The Tale of the Heike, a classic 12th century Japanese epic of warring clans that documents the intense desire for domination and the inevitable fall from power. The central theme of the stories - the Buddhist law of impermanence - has special resonance for Yokoshi; born and raised in Hiroshima, she was often reminded as a child of the ephemeral nature of human life. These stories continue to resonate in our own times as ambition and pride continue to spawn war and greed.

As a contemporary dance artist, Yokoshi is also driven by the question of how much culture within an art form is transferable, particularly in a fluid, mobile world where the merging of cultures is more prevalent than ever. Tyler Tyler continues Yokoshi’s unique collaboration with her revered master teacher of Kabuki Su-odori dance, Masumi Seyama. Their previous work together, the critically acclaimed what we when we, won a 2006 “Bessie” Award.

Tyler Tyler will be performed by a cast of six including two U.S. dancers, a U.S. musician/singer and three Japanese dancers/actors, each of whom trained for many years with Ms. Seyama. The heart of Tyler Tyler’s choreographic process is Yokoshi’s partnership with Ms. Seyama, who has given her several pieces of classic repertory for the project.

Following Kabuki tradition, as Ms. Seyama teaches the repertory to Yokoshi and the Japanese performers, and as Yokoshi teaches it to the U.S. dancers, subtle shifts are made to suit each performer. With both Japanese and U.S. dancers, Yokoshi is deconstructing and rearranging the classic repertory using postmodern techniques, and creating original choreography that reflects and references the traditional repertory.

Observing how bodies trained in one rigorous form interpret the specific techniques, physical qualities and aesthetics of another, Yokoshi’s goal is not to have the performers exchange their respective forms, but to examine the nature of cultural identity by experimenting with cultural form.

Steven Reker’s original music, performed by the composer on voice, toy piano and bass guitar (referencing the sound of the Japanese shamisen), is inspired by Japanese folk songs filtered through Reker’s own idiom of “experimental folk music.” The music also includes recorded works by Ryuichi Sakamoto, Cat Power, Lou Reed and The Carpenters.

Pictured:  Photograph by Alexandra Corraza. Dancers pictured are Kayvon Purazar and Kuniya Sawamura.