The Asahi Journal
Saturday, January 7, 2006
Ryoko Sasaki

A magnus opus allowing for various interpretations

(Photo Kishin Shinoyama)

Noism05’s new work, NINA is the result of artistic director Jo Kanamori’s choreographic techniques and efforts to nurture the company, an impressive work worth seeing (at the Play House of the New National Theatre, Tokyo)

I have always found sharp ideological messages in Mr. Kanamori’s short pieces, butt for this great piece, he enveloped his deep reflections on the body with nuance-filled narrativity. The music by Tôn Thât An worked magnificently with the choreography.

There were men in black and women in flesh-coloured leotards. The women petrified their bodies like mannequins, whose arms and legs were bended and stretched by the men. After having the women left in an unnatural position for a long time, the men carried them under their arms and then forced them to dance. That was followed by strange pas de deux, solo, and also unison by the two female dancers, whose peculiar movements picking up speed and yet remaining in unison, were just like those of robots. The impression was impersonal and indifferent. 

I admired the dancers for proving how material a human body could be: at the same time I was in awe of the machine-like perfection in consistency and beauty of the movements. The capability and discipline of the dancers are marvellous.

There was conflicts between men and women in the first act. In the second one, the women began to move vehemently on their own. By dealing with them, the men’s movements gradually changed. As the women wore colourful costumes and the stage became lively, the performance reached a climax. In the end, men and women looked alike, in their flesh-coloured leotards and five couples danced unrestrictedly and lithely.

It seems we can interpret the works in many ways. We could find the theory on machine civilisation or a view on women in this work, but we also could interpret it as a reflection on dance. It might be also interesting to consider it as ‘meta dance’ that discusses the element of dance, which first forces one into the mold then draws a high level of self-discipline.