for JapaneseDance Archive Project 2017 （DAP2017）
project OH!YAMA (Japan) Ambiguous Dance Company (Korea) Korea Japan collaboration
Modern Dance in the Theatre of War : Wheat and Soldiers
The pioneers of Japanese modern dance, Takaya Eguchi and Misako Miya performed Wheat and Soldiers at Tokyo’s Imperial Theater in October 1938. The historical context was the Sino-Japanese War. The following year, their dance troupe embarked upon a government sponsored overseas tour for Japanese forces, in which segments of Wheat and Soldiers were staged. The troupe participating in the tour to entertain the forces and the wounded comprised three men and seven women. Four consecutive tours took place until 1942. The few existing photos bear witness to large crowds; in the history of Japanese modern dance, this piece probably attracted the most spectators. It was, however, never performed after the war. How was this work created and perceived? Enveloped in mystery, it will over time disappear into the vast shadow of soldiers’ wartime memories. While impossible to faithfully reproduce, let us, however, listen to the fading whispers of a dance work that risks being silenced by the passage of time.
| Dates | Friday 17th February thru Sunday 19th February, 2017 |
|---|---|
| Venue | Yokohama Red Brick No.1 - 2F (1-1-1 Shinko Naka-ku, Yokohama) |
| Admission Fee | 3,000 yen for each performance / Student Reduction : 2,500 yen / TPAM Registration Benefit : 2,500 yen |
| Presented by | Kazuo Ohno Dance Studio |
| Co-produced by | Dance Archive Network (NPO) |
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DAP2017 facebookページAbout Wheat and Soldiers
Ashihei Hino wrote his novel Wheat and Soldiers in the August 1938 edition of the magazine Kaizou, based upon his own recollections as a soldier in the Sino-Japanese War. Published in book form in September of the same year, it sold over a million copies. A similarly titled song also became a huge hit. Wheat and Soldiers premiered at the Imperial Theater in October 1938, and was choreographed by Eguchi himself. The piece was staged as an attraction for screenings of the German expressionist masterpiece M (1931) by Fritz Lang and the 1938 Shochiku movie Those in the Firing Line. At that time the Imperial Theatre was a Shochiku run movie theatre where western films were screened. Apparently, segments of Eguchi’s original work were performed on the overseas tours to the battlefronts.
Performance
project OH!YAMA (Japan) Ambiguous Dance Company (Korea)
Korea Japan collaboration
Modern Dance in the Theatre of War : Wheat and Soldiers
Friday 17th February 18:00
Saturday 18th February 14:30 20:00
Sunday 19th February 14:30
Directed and choreographed by Bo Ram Kim and Yuri Furuie
Performed by :
Ambiguous Dance Company (Korea) : Bo Ram Kim, Kung Min Jang and Hyun Woo Nam
project OH!YAMA (Japan) : Yuri Furuie, Ayaha Matsuoka and Satsuko Hasegawa
※Duration: 60 minutes
project OH!YAMA
Under the direction of Yuri Furuie, the members of this all-female dance company are all alumni of Tokyo’s Ochanomizu University Dance Education Course. They were awarded the Jury Prize of Dance Collection R in Yokohama in 2009 and the Choreographer of the Future Prize at the Toyota Choreography Awards in 2010. Dance, Even So (2016), Fantasy (2013).
Ambiguous Dance Company
The Company was created in an attempt to escape preconceived notions about dance and to deconstruct them with music and movement. We would rather tell a story about the importance of nature and pursue our beliefs of expressing music and movement through our bodies than the words. Bo Ram Kim was awarded Touch Point Art Foundation Prize and Encouragement Prize in Yokohama Dance Collection EX2014.
Related programs
Lecture
Eguchi and Miya’s Dance Company On Tour at the Battlefronts
Lecture : Katsuhiko Sakaguchi
Saturday 18th February 19:00 – 19:45
Admission Free
Exhibition
Photographic documents of Eguchi and Miya’s Company in China and South East Asia from1939 to1942
With the cooperation of Joko Horikiri and Maiboku no Kai
Friday 17th February 17:00〜21:00
Saturday 18th February 13:00〜21:00
Sunday 19th February 13:00〜18:00
Admission Free
As the exhibition space is located in the performance venue, you aren’t allowed to see it during the performance without a ticket.
Information
Tickets
Admission Fee : 3,000 yen for each performance /
Student Reduction : 2,500 yen /
TPAM Registration Benefit : 2,500 yen
Reservation and Queries
Please reserve by e-mail to the Kazuo Ohno Dance Studio Office/ Canta Co. Ltd:
Email ticket@canta.co.jp
We also take reservations by telephone: 03-3450-6507
From 17 to 19 February, please call 090-6158-7618
Only cash payment at the door.
Access
【Yokohama Red Brick No,1-2F】
1-1-1 Shinko Naka-ku, Yokohama.
Get off at Bashamichi station or Nippon Odori station on the Yokohama Minato-mirai Line. it is about a 6-minutes walk.
| Presented by： | Kazuo Ohno Dance Studio |
|---|---|
| Co-produced by： | Dance Archive Network |
| TPAM Fringe Program： | www.tpam.or.jp Tie-up program with Yokohama Dance Collection 2017 |
| Supported by： | Japan Arts Council With the cooperation of Canta Co.Ltd. |