RE/PLAY DANCE Edit

International Co-production
RE/PLAY DANCE Edit.

By Junnosuke Tada and Kitamari
in collaboration with choreographer-dancers from around Asia

International Co-production
RE/PLAY DANCE Edit.

Junnosuke Tada, a renowned Japanese theatre maker, created Re/Play in 2011 for his theatre company, Tokyo Deathlock. It explores the intent and meaning of re-production through bodily repetition of physical movement. As a re-making of a theatrical production, this version replaces the actors with eight Asian and Japanese leading contemporary choreographer-dancers.
Using pop music, the performers dance until they collapse in exhaustion – and then they get up and do it again, each choreographer-dancer taking a turn at their own approach to the project. This controversial work has an endless structure that subverts the reason and meaning of dance and reveals the urgency of life and chaotic nature of contemporary society.
The first international production was presented by TheatreWorks (Singapore) in collaboration with Offsite Dance Project (Japan) in 2015-2016. This is the second international collaboration in co-production with Amrita Performing Arts (Cambodia) , Offsite Dance Project, and RE/PLAY Dance Edit Committee (Japan). Further collaborations between Japan and Southeast Asian artists are planned in other Asian countries.

Activity 2016-2017

Workshop & Audition: 1-3 July 2016
Venue: Circus Hall

Performance: 24-25 March 2017
Venue: Department of Performing Arts [address: 173, Phnom Penh 12308 Cambodia]
*Combining lighting workshop

Production Credit

Direction: Junnosuke Tada
Choreographer-dancers: Kitamari, Kaori Ito, Mariya Takechiyo, Chankethya Chey, Rithea Chey, Narim Nam, Chanborey Soy, Sophal Sor
Producers: Matsue Okazaki, Rithisal Kang
Interpreters: Noriko Kaizuka, Channeary Roeun, Wakako Ide
Producers: Rithisal Kang, Matsue Okazaki
Web design: Kazuya Kato
Video documentation: Social Compass

Co-production: Amrita Performing Arts, Offsite Dance Project, RE/PLAY Dance Edit Comittee
Supported by: The Japan Foundation Asia Center, Arts Council Tokyo
In Cooperation with: Social Compass

Artist Bio

Junnosuke Tada

Born in 1976, Tada formed his company “Tokyo Deathlock” in 2001. His direction focuses on the concept that “manifestation equals phenomenon” and that this manifestation includes a performer’s body, the audience, and the space. With his unconventional approach to the framework of established theater, each of his projects generates intriguing discussions both within Japan and abroad. He has been the artistic director of Kirari Fujimi Cultural Centre of Fujimi City since 2010. He is the first international winner for the Director Award of the Donga Theater Awards in Korea with the Korean-Japanese collaboration ‘KARUMEGI’ in 2013.

Kitamari

Born in 1983, Started dancing under the direction of dancer Masami Yurabe. Started working solo upon entering university in 2002. Kitamari formed her company “KIKIKIKIKIKI” in 2003. In 2008 she received the Audience Award of the Toyota Choreography Award and the grand prize in the Yokohama Solo X Duo Competition. In recent years, she has been performing as a dancer in works by Mika Kurosawa, Kinoshita Kabuki, and others. Kitamari continually crosses boundaries by directing, choreographing and dancing in a range of performances, as well as producing projects that expand the possibilities for performing arts and are vital to the contemporary dance scene.

Director Message - Junnosuke Tada

The 2011 great earthquake of northeastern Japan became the underpinning of“RE/PLAY DANCE Edit,” a piece that was created by my theater company, Tokyo Deathlock. Based on themes such as “unrepeatable” and “interruption,” actors continued their movements without interference from each other. This resulted in the destruction of images created by pop music to create a work that expressed time and life ironically through relentless repetition.
In the following year, 2012, a version of the piece was made with eight dancers in Kyoto. Actors mostly represent humans on stage — you could basically say theater is an expression of humanity. On the other hand, a dancer’s material is the body itself, so they express a range of things from concrete to abstract. I asked the dancers to work with the concept of “dance/not dance,” creating a gradation between “not dancing = human” and “dancing = body” in order to create chaos with the increasing varieties of physicality. From this confusion arose a truer expression of the world.
In 2014, a different group of dancers recreated the piece in Yokohama. Through juxtaposing their widely varying physiques, perspectives on dance, and choreography, the performance destroyed the framework for the audience’s perception by rebuilding discovery through confusion in disruption. I again recognized that the more variation there were in dancers, the more impact the piece would have.
In 2016 I recreated a Singapore version of this piece with a wonderfully diverse group that reflected the city-state’s multi-cultural character. Two of the dancers were from Japan, four from Singapore, one from Indonesia, and one from Australia. I directed them to add choreography which represents their roots. As a result, the variety in the dancers’ bodies and the cultural backgrounds of their dance gave the piece more depth. It made substantial progress in the exploration of Asian physicality — one of our project’s goals. In our future collaborations in Southeast and East Asia, more variations in bodies and cultural backgrounds will join this piece. The audience will observe scenes composed by the dancers with a focus on the location, differences, and connections in the concepts of body and dance in Asia. It will also provide the chance for not only dance fans, but also many other people in Asia to get various perspectives on establishing what Asia is.

Contact Information

RE/PLAY Dance Edit Committee
Address: Green Room, 4-1-6 Nishi-nippori, Arakawa-ku, Tokyo Japan 116-0013
E-mail: info@wedance.jp

Offsite Dance Project
Address: 10-1-202 Ikebukuro, Naka-ku, Yokohama, Japan 231-0834
E-mail: info@offsite-dance.jp
URL: http://www.offsite-dance.jp

International Co-production RE/PLAY DANCE Edit.