January 25 and 26, 2013. 8:00 p.m.
Miami Light Project is presenting the Miami premiere of acclaimed Japanese choreographer, Kota Yamazaki in the dance theater work (glowing). Bodies emerge, float, and then disappear into the shadows of a dimly lit architecture. In (glowing), Kota Yamazaki draws inspiration from the great modern writer Jun’ichirō Tanizaki’s essay In’ei Raisan (In Praise of Shadows), which plumbs the unique Japanese aesthetics of shadows and darkness. In this subtle and powerful work for six dancers, with a set made following principles found in the traditional Japanese house, Yamazaki draws on his own deep background in butoh, a dance form developed in Japan after WWII that embraces darkness, and connects it with traditional African dance and contemporary movement to mine the inherent similarities between these forms. Dancers from Senegal and Ethiopia join Japanese butoh dancers and US contemporary performers to create a scenario in which lightless vision ignites the imagination, conjuring illusion and upturning the ordinary between the shadows.
Kota Yamazaki was born in Niigata and studied fashion design in Tokyo. He was first introduced to butoh through the teachings of Akira Kasai at the age of 18. He was a finalist in the Platform of Bognolet Competition in France, and then formed his Tokyo-based dance company, Rosy co., where he created original works in collaboration with various artists, including architect Toyo Ito, until its close in 2001. Since Yamazaki moved his base to New York in 2002, his work has been presented nationally and internationally at PICA’s TBA Festival, Melbourne International Arts Festival, BAM Harvey Theater, Dance Theater Workshop and NUS for the Arts in Singapore, among others. He has taught at Bennington College, Barnard College at Columbia University, Yotsuya Art Studium, Kyoto Zoukei University and Seoul National University. In 2007, Yamazaki received the New York Dance and Performance Award (“Bessie”) with Germaine Acogny for the choreography of FAGAALA performed by Senegal-based dance company Jant-Bi. Since 2009, he has served as the Director for Body Arts Laboratory and for the Whenever Wherever Festival in Tokyo.
Miami Light Project
The Light Box at Goldman Warehouse
404 NW 26 Street
Miami, FL 33127
www.miamilightproject.com
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