Kazuo Ohno Festival 2010

Festival Period:  Friday November 19th thru Sunday December 12th, 2010
Venues:  BankART Studio NYK  and other facilities in the vicinity.
Reception Area:  Ground Floor, BankART 1929.
Admission Fees:  All Festival Performances:  2,500 yen (advance);  3,000 yen ( door)
Performances at the Yokohama Dance Neighbourhood 2010:  1,500 yen (advance); 2,000 yen (door)
Students with the relevant ID and Senior Citizens over 60 are eligible for a 500-yen reduction on individual tickets.
Yokohama residents are eligible for a 50% reduction on advance tickets. Proof of residency will be required.
Organisers:  BankART 1929; Kazuo Ohno Dance Studio
Assistance:  Agency of Cultural Affairs of Japanese Goverment
Project Assistance:  Tabama Project
In collaboration with : Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch; Yokohama Museum; ShugoArts, Franco-Japanese Institute
Yokohama.
With the support of : Air France

A Shared Vision
Kazuo Ohno passed away on June 1st, 2010 at the age of 103. Worldwide his departure has been mourned. Ohno's impact remains enormous. Strangely, while many indeed did regard his passing with deep sadness,they were also imbued with deep sense of tranquility. With his death, he has not disappeared. His spirit pervades. Isn't the proof of this the way his vision of the world has touched many others not alone those in dance but transcended genre and geographical borders? Kazuo Ohno's unique perspective on life and dance is what he has handed on. The Kazuo Ohno Festival 2010 has for its mission the sharing of this vision.   

Kazuo Ohno's World
An Everlasting Butoh Performance
Kazuo Ohno's door was open for everybody.  Such openness and willingness to work with other, to air-out his own ideas was part of his distinctive approach. Over the years he collaborated with practitioners in every genre. This year festival follows in his footsteps:  Over three evenings, we present a wide spectrum of butoh performances featuring
students of the Kazuo Ohno Dance Studio, previous performers at the Kazuo Ohno Festival, along with those participants selected following a public appeal.  Each participant will present a short 15-minute performance.
Moreover, we are making a public appeal for participants from any performance genre. We hope that as many as possible will apply.
For further details, please consult: http://www.bankart1929.com

Kazuo Ohno's World: A Shared Vision
Friday, November 19th:  19:30
Hallelujah
Performers: Akira Kasai; Tomiko Takai,  Creative Dance Himawari Group
Venue: BankART Studio NYK, 3F
Admission Fee: : 1,500 yen (advance);  2,000 yen (door)
The Kazuo Ohno Festival 2010  opening party will take place after the performance.

Tuesday November 23rd:  18:00
One Hundred Years of Butoh
Performers: Natsu Nakajima , Kota Yamazaki, Shirotama Hitsujiya and Skunk, Kakuya Ohashi & Dancers, Manri Kim, along with the participation of those chosen following  the public appeal. 
Venue: BankART Studio NYK  3F
Admission Fee: : 2,500 yen (advance)/ : 3,000 yen (door)

Sunday November 28th:  18:00
A Journey towards Mr O- A Journey from Mr. O
Performers:  Mitsuyo Uesugi,  Masahide Omori, Abe "M"aria, Mika Kurosawa, Students of the Kazuo Ohno Dance Studio
Venue: BankART Studio NYK 3F
Admission Fee: 2,500 yen ( advance) ;  3,000 yen (door)

Special Performance:  Admiring La Argentina-- a Remake
In 1977, Kazuo Ohno premiered his epoch-making Admiring La Argentina. The dance world has never been the same since. This remake is not meant as a way of revisiting the past, but rather a work-in-progress which allows the spectator to experience it from a contemporary perspective.  The remake does not restrict itself to dance alone, but with the help of artists working in different genres and with various media reworks the original model.

Sunday December 5th: 18:00.  
( ticket-office opens 30 minutes before the performance)
Venue: BankART Studio NYK 3F
Performers: Yasumasa Morimura  ( film footage for the remake), Hironobu Oikawa,  Kentaro, and others
Director: Yoshito Ohno
Admission Fee: advance 2,500 yen/ door: 3,000 yen.

Wuppertal Theater with Yoshito Ohno: A Promising Morning
The 1980 Nancy International Theatre Festival introduced two of dance's pioneering spirits to French audiences for the first time. For Kazuo Ohno it was his first overseas performance, while Pina Bausch was to make her French stage debut. And while both have recently departed, leaving a vacuum in the dance world, this performance, A Promising  Morning, doesn't look back but rather looks ahead.  Two of Wuppertal Theatre's leading dancers, Julie Anne Stanzak and Eddie Martinez join Yoshito Ohno in this co-production.

Saturday, December 11th: 16:00/ Sunday December 12th 16:00 
Ticket-office opens 30 minutes prior to the performance.
Venue: BankART Studio NYK 3F
Performers: Julie Anne Stanzak, Eddie Martinez, Yoshito Ohno
Lighting: Jean Kalman
Admission Fee:  2,500 yen (advance)/   3,000 yen (door)

Exhibition
Kazuo Ohno's World
In addition to premiering audio-visual recordings of all previous Kazuo Ohno Festivals, this exhibition will also feature  archive materials, media and newspaper articles. Of particular interest are the rare photographs from Kazuo Ohno's first-ever public performance Barley and the Soldier dating back to the 1930s. Footage of the recent collaborative performance between Anthony and the Johnsons and Yoshito Ohno will also be shown. The exhibition will also premiere footage shot at the various memorial services worldwide in Kazuo Ohno's honour.
Dates: Friday November 19th thru Sunday December 12th.  11:30- 19:00
Venue: BankART  Studio NYK 2F
Admission: Free

Field Trip to the Kazuo Ohno Dance Studio in Kamihoshikawa.
The Kazuo Ohno Dance Studio was established in 1949, following Ohno's first public recital. In 1960,
Ohno built with his own hands a rehearsal studio in the back garden of his home in the Yokohama's Hodogaya-ward . Over the intervening years, Ohno availed of this space to create his many works, as well as to receive the many dancers and artists who came to visit him. Following in his father's footsteps, Yoshito Ohno currently teaches there, giving workshops on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays on a regular basis. During the festival's duration, tours to the rehearsal studio have been organised, in which it will be possible to see at first hand Ohno's costumes, stage props as well as posters and other memorabilia.
Dates:  Saturday November 20th; Sunday November 21st; Saturday November 27th; Sunday November 28th.
Those interested in participating in the tour should assemble at the Reception area of BankART Studio NYK at 13:00.
The tour will last approximately 2 hours. 
Those in possession of a ticket for a performance are qualified to participate  with a nominal fee of 500 yen. Reservation necessary. 

BankART School Lecture:   Kazuo Ohno's Teachings
As a starting point this forthcoming lecture series will take a multi-approached perspective  to Kazuo Ohno, the artist, and Kazuo Ohno, the man. 
 Daisuke Muto (dance critic)  : Kazuo Ohno and Butoh
Okamoto Akira (director and lecturer at Meiji University: Kazuo Ohno and Noh
Takahashi Kazuko (lecturer at Yokohama National University)  : Kazuo Ohno and Creative Dance
Morishita Takashi (Keio University Arts Centre) Kazuo Ohno and Tatsumi Hijikata
Yomota Inuhiko (critic)  Kazuo Ohno and Pasolini
Jean Kalman (lighting designer) : Kazuo Ohno's experience in Europe
Watanabe Tamotsu (theatre critic) : Kazuo Ohno and  Japanese dance
For further details, please consult the BankART School. 
Enquiries: school@bankart1929.com

Tradition and Modernity
Zuni Icosahedron

Flee by Night
Lecture and Performance .

Following last year' s powerful impact with Tears of Barren Hill,  an astonishing mix of traditional and contemporary theatre, Zuni Icosahedron returns for the Japanese premiere of Flee by Night, Danny Yung's latest experimental piece, which fuses traditional and modern themes, all the while exploring the relationship between art and politics. It tells the story of the legendary figure Lin Chong, one of the most well-known characters from the Chinese novel Water Margins. In this tale of intrigue, Lin Chong was framed and persecuted by malicious court officials. He fled to join a group of outlaws in the mountains. Another protagonist is the never-ending tale itself. In 1943, a modern adaptation of Flee by Night was performed. Mao Zedong highly praised the piece for the way it embodied revolutionary fervour and a reworking of traditional motifs. 
We wonder how Danny Yung's latest experimental theatre piece will approach this tale which has survived the turmoil of Chinese history. The performance will be followed by a talk, in which the audience will have the opportunity to hear Yung, a man of many talents, speak on the relevance of traditional themes in contemporary theatre, and the magic of his stage productions. The central theme for discussion will be the performing arts as an intangible cultural treasure, and the ever-present question of their evolution and preservation.  
Dates: Friday December 3rd; 19:30.  Saturday December 4th, 16:00
Venue:  BankART Studio NYK 3F
Director : Danny Yung
Performers:  Yang Yang; Li Lite, Sun Jing, Liu Xiaoyun
Admission fee:   2,500 yen (advance);  3,000 yen (door)

Danny Yung
Danny Yung, the Hong Kong based founder of the Zuni Icosahedron and multi-talented theatre director is one of today's most dynamic cultural figures,  has captivated audiences both at home and overseas.  In 2000, Yung organised an eleven-week long Festivals of Vision, a cross-cultural festival in Berlin and Hong Kong, involving some 1000 artists from thirty-five cities worldwide.  With Makoto Satoh he co-directed the principle presentation at the Japanese pavilion at the 2010 Shanghai Expo.

Ameya Norimizu  Facing the Wall around the Body
This popular class at the BankART School has been running since September 2010.  One is welcome to participate in the workshops, although one is under no obligation to do so.  One can just sit and observe. One never knows what will happen, so feel free to participate.
Date:  Saturday November 20th.  13:00 - 17:00
Venue: BankART Studio NYK
Participation fee:  1,500 yen (advance)/  2,000 yen (door)

Dance Company Baby Q  Instant Oblivion
Over time we gradually shut out of mind those choked-up feelings of loneliness. Though a fact of life,
how can we get away from those manifestly real moments? 
Date: Sunday Novmeber 21st  19:00
Venue: BankART Studio NYK 3F
Performer/director: Shoko Higashino 
Performer/music: Toshio Kajiwara
Music :  Keiji Haino,  Masaya Nakahara
Imagery: Rokapenis
Performers: Ken Gilles Bien, Kanatanaka, Yoshikawa Chie, Ryo Saito, Shintaku Ippei and others
Admission fee: advance, 2,500 yen;  door, 3,000 yen.

Tabama Project  That Woman~That Person
This group of six women have accumulated a wealth of experience both in their personal and professional lives as dancers. Each of the individual members develop solo dance in such a way as to intertwine and create a dramatic whole. What we witness is dance not only on a physical level, but the mingling of the diversity of the dancers' individual thoughts and sentiments. 
Dates: Friday November 26th, 19:30.  Saturday November 27th. 16:00.  
(The ticket office opens 30 minutes before the Performance.)
Venue: BankART Studio NYK 3F
Organisation/Direction:  Maki Tabata 
Choreography/Performers:   Naoko Ogata, Mariko Kasuya, Memi  Shinozaki (Mezurashii Kinoko dance-company)  Kaori Seki, Erina Nagai  (Makoto Kurabu), Maki Tabata 
Music/Performance:  Katsufumi Sugawara,  Hidehiro Tsuchizawa
Project Collaboration: Tabama Project
Admission: 2,500 yen (advance); 3,000 yen (door)

Late Night Show
Megumi Nakamura  together with  Toshiko Oka In a  45 minute impro:    Point Zero
This collaborative improvisational piece features the contra-bassist, Nobuyoshi Ino  along with the guitarist Kazuo Imai  creating a musical counterpoint to the dance. Movement emerges from this gyrating clash of music and dance in each and every moment. Point Zero promises the experience of visually and aurally witnessing the confrontation of sound and movement. 
Date: Friday November 26th. 21:15  (the ticket-office opens 30 minutes before the show)
Venue: BankART Studio 3F
Performers: Megumi Nakamura , Toshiko Oka, Nobuyoshi Ino (contrabass), Kazuo Imai (guitar)
Admission: 2,500 yen (advance); 3,000 yen (door) . ( One drink included in the entrance fee)

Yokohama Dance Neighbourhood 2010 
This series of outdoor dance performances avails of Yokohama's numerous public spaces.  A detailed map indicating the specific locations will be provided on the day. In the case of light rain, the outdoor performances will go ahead. Given December temperatures, we would advise all those wishing to attend the performances to wear suitably warm clothing. 
Date: Sunday December 5th.  13:00
Please assemble at the reception area of BankART Studio NYK at the latest 12:45. 
Venues: All in walking distance at six separate locations between the BankART NYK vicinity and Yamashita Park.
Performers: Jiro Aoki, Go Anai, Tenniscourts,  Oyatsu Table, Cava, Yuko Yuki, Umebou 
Admission: 1,500 yen (advance); 2,000 yen (door)

Para-Para
Para-Para, a synchronised group dance originating in Japan, emerged in the eurobeat boom during the 1980s.
In some respects, Para-Para and Butoh were distinctively Japanese contributions to 20th century popular culture.
The Kazuo Ohno festival will organise a round table to discuss Para-Para, its past, present and future.
In addition, a lecture performance given by Yuri Furuie  (Project Ohyama) along with Atsunori Kawamura (Shokigata) will take place. Here is your opportunity to learn to dance the Para-Para.
Date:  Tuesday December 7th.  19:30  ( Ticket office opens 30 minutes prior to performance lecture)
Venue: BankART Studio NYK 3F
Round-table members:  Kazuko Takahashi (dance educator), Hirokazu  Miyaji  (former Twinstar Director), Yusuke Wajima  (popular music researcher); Mitsugu Matsumoto( DJ); and others.
Choreography:  Yuri Furuie, Atsunori Kawamura 
Performers: Project Ohyama, Shokigata and other 
Admission:  1,000 yen (advance)  1,500 yen (door). Admission fee includes one drink.

Reservations/Enquiries
BankART 1929
Tel: 045 663-2812; Fax: 045 663-2813
ohnofes@bankart1929.com

Reductions: 
Students with ID and Senior Citizens (over 60s) are eligible for a 500 yen reduction.
Yokohama residents are eligible for a 50% reduction on advance purchase tickets.

Kazuo Ohno Festival Pass:  10,000 yen.
This pass enables one to attend all performances during the festival. Use, however, is strictly restricted to the subscriber.

Address: 
BankART Studio NYK
3-9 Kaigan Dori, Naka-ku,
Yokohama 231-0002
Tel: 045 663-2812

Public Transport:  Minato-Mirai Line to Bashamichi Station. Exit 6 Akarenga Soko Guchi