Noism0 / Noism1 "ENKAN"
Jo Kanamori / Ryohei Kondo Triple Bill
*The performance is scheduled to last approximately 110 minutes, including an intermission.
[Niigata performance] Ryutopia RYUTOPIA Niigata City Performing Arts Centre – Theatre
Date:
Friday, 13 December, 2024 19:00★ (Estimated performance end time 20:50)
Saturday, 14 December, 2024 17:00★ (Estimated performance end time 18:50)
Sunday, 15 December, 2024 15:00 (Estimated performance end time 16:50)
The performances marked with ★ will be followed by a 30-minute talk after the performance.
Anyone with a ticket for this performance (any of the Niigata dates) is welcome to attend.
Friday, 13 December, 19:00 Jo Kanamori × Ryohei Kondo
Saturday, 14 December, 17:00 Sawako Iseki × Yuki Yamada × Aiichiro Miyagawa × Satoshi Nakagawa
Admission (tax included):
All seats reserved 5,500 yen / U25 3,000 yen / High school students and younger 1,000 yen
Sales:
N-PAC mate (RYUTOPIA Friends Association) pre-sale: Wednesday, 18 September 2024
General sale: Saturday, 21 September 2024
Available at:
RYUTOPIA
▶Online ticket: https://piagettii.s2.e-get.jp/ryutopia/pt/ (from 11:00 on the first day of sale)
▶Telephone: 025-224-5521 (from 11:00 on the first day of sale)
▶Box office [No sales on the first day of both N-PAC mate pre-sale and general sale]
Inquiries: RYUTOPIA Ticket Dial 025-224-5521 (11:00-19:00 / except closing days)
[Fukuoka (Kitakyushu) performance] J:COM Kitakyushu Performing Arts Center – Theatre
Date: Sunday, 22 December 2024, 16:00 (Estimated performance end time 17:50)
Admission (tax included):
General 4,000 yen
Youth 2,000 yen (Under 25, ID required)
Teens 1,500 yen (13-19 years, ID required, limited number of tickets)
Sales:
KICPAC members pre-sale: Saturday, 2 November 2024, 10:00-17:00
Ticket Club Q pre-sale: Saturday, 9 November 2024, 10:00-17:00
General sale: Sunday, 10 November 2024, 10:00
Available at:
Kitakyushu Performing Arts Center (Online, Telephone, Box office)
▶Telephone 093-562-8435 (12:00-17:00 Except Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays）
▶Box office Q-station, Riverwalk Kitakyushu 5F (Weekdays 11:00-18:00 / Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays 10:00-18:00）
▶Play guide Ticket Pia Lawson Ticket
Inquiries: J:COM Kitakyushu Performing Arts Center 093-562-2655（10:00-18:00）
[Shiga performance] BIWAKO HALL Center for the Performing Arts, Shiga – Theatre
Date: Saturday, 1 February 2025, 16:00 (Estimated performance end time 17:50)
Admission (tax included):
All seat reserved
Seat S: 6,050 yen（BIWAKO HALL Friends' Association member rate: 5,500 yen ※Available only at BIWAKO HALL）
Seat A: 4,950yen
Youth (under 24): 3,300yen
Theater Mates: 1,650 yen
Sales:
BIWAKO HALL Friends' Association member pre-sale (online ticket and telephone reception only): Friday, 1 November
General sale: Sunday, 3 November 2024
Available at:
BIWAKO HALL Ticket Center (Online,Telephone)
▶Telephone 077-523-7136（10:00-19:00 / Closed Tuesdays, or the following day if it is a holiday. Closed 29 and 30 December and 1-3 January. However, the Ticket Center is only open by phone on 30 December and 10:00-17:30 on 31 December).
▶Play guide Ticket Pia Lawson Ticket e＋ [Seat selection service available]
[Saitama pergormance] Saitama Arts Theater – Main Theater
Date:
Friday, 7 February 2025, 19:00 (Estimated performance end time 20:50)
Saturday, 8 February 2025. 17:00 (Estimated performance end time 18:50)
Sunday, 9 February 2025, 15:00 (Estimated performance end time 16:50)
Admission (tax included):
All seats reserved
General 6,000 yen / U25 3,000 yen / SAF members 5,400 yen
Sales:
SAF members pre-sale: Saturday, 9 November 2024
General sale: Saturday, 16 November
Available at
SAF Ticket Center (Online, Telephone, Box office) ※Only for Saitama performance
▶SAF Online Ticket ［from 10:00 on the first day of sale］
▶Telephone 0570-064-939（10:00-18:00 / Except closed days）
▶Box office Saitama Arts Theater (10:00-18:00 / Except closed days） Saitama Hall（10:00‐18:00 / Except closed days）
▶Play guide e＋ Ticket Pia
RYUTOPIA (Online, Telephone, Box office)
▶Online Ticket https://piagettii.s2.e-get.jp/ryutopia/pt/ [from 11:00 on the first day of sale]
▶Telephone 025-224-5521（11:00-19:00 / Except closed days） [from 11:00 on the first day of sale]
▶Box office (RYUTOPIA 2F) [Not sales on the first day of sale]
On the first day of general sale, sales will be limited to internet and telephone bookings only. Any remaining seats will be available at the box office from 11:00 on the next working day.
＊Pre-school children are not permitted at all performances.
＊For more information on childcare services, wheelchair seating, etc., see the individual theatre websites.
＊Visitors using various discounts, such as U25, must present their ID card at the entrance.
INTRODUCTION
A triple bill performance entitled “ENKAN”, presented in the 20th anniversary year of Noism Company Niigata.
Ryohei Kondo choreographs his first new work for Noism in 19 years, since “Life as a Dog” in 2005.
Jo Kanamori’s Noism0 new work features guest performancecs by Aiichiro Miyagawa and Satoshi Nakagawa, two former Noism members who have long been active and played key roles in the company!
Time turns and returns. Here is Noism now, on its 20th anniversary.
Prologue to the performance
Sawako Iseki
Artistic Director of International Activities Division
As part of a guest choreographer project, we have invited Ryohei Kondo to create a new work for Noism1, which will be performed together with a new work for Noism0 choreographed by Jo Kanamori and our repertory piece “As Time Goes By”.
This is Ryohei Kondo's second guest choreography since 2005. The reason for inviting him this time was with the current Noism1 members in mind. This time, I did not consider “a choreographer who has a collective”, which has been an important consideration for Kanamori when inviting guest choreographers in the past, as a criterion for selection, but instead, I focused on the fact that the guest choreographer would “lead to the future growth for the current members”.
It was a very valuable experience for me to break through the shame and fear of destroying my own ideals (fantasies) that I myself felt in theatre and vocal classes at Béjart's school when I was younger. I believe that the current members have a better understanding of the idea and spirituality of the collective Noism. However, I believe that the world they see is not all there is, and that by coming into contact with various worlds, they will be able to travel to find their true selves. I believe that Ryohei Kondo is a person who can identify the essence of a person. I would like him to find out what they are facing and what they are lacking, through this creation. I hope that this will give rise to new or potential feelings and sensations that the members have, but that they did not know they had.
For the first time, for Jo Kanamori's new work, we invite former Noism members Aiichiro Miyagawa and Satoshi Nakagawa as guest dancers. It was I, not the director/choreographer, who decided to invite the guest dancers. I have never specified the dancers first, but this time I suggested it to Kanamori.
They are the two longest-serving members of Noism and are also comrades in arms. Miyagawa, Nakagawa, Yamada and I are all in our 40s, and I think we are entering the next stage as dancers. I am very much looking forward to seeing what will emerge when we “face the director/choreographer Jo Kanamori” with friends of mind who can share and inspire each other in this stage of their lives.
Initially, I decided on the title of the programme as “ENKAN (=circle/loop)” because it implied a “return” for Ryohei Kondo who is invited back for the first time in about 20 years, and the former members of the company. But as individuals and as a collective, as time goes round and the times change, how is our body transformed and reborn day by day? How connected is the body to the spirit and emotions? In the circle of time, I want everyone to be aware of this as a person of expression, and I want to find a dance path to live through with all.
With this meaning in mind, I hope that this programme called “ENKAN” will not end with its closure, but will be a guide to the next step.
CREDIT
Noism1 “ningenshikaku”Direction, choreography: Ryohei Kondo
Costume: Atelier 88%
Performed by : Noism1= Rio Miyoshi, Kota Nakao, Sakura Shojima, Sumire Shojima, Hikaru Tsubota, Akira Hiura, Yuki Itokawa, Natsuki Ota, Ikumi Kanenobu, Tatsushi Matsunaga (Noism1 associate member)
Noism0 ”Suspended Garden” Direction, choreography : Jo Kanamori
Music:Tôn Thất An
Video: Ryu Endo
Costume: Hanako Washio
Performed by: Noism0＝Sawako Iseki, Yuki Yamada
Guest dancer＝Aiichiro Miyagawa, Satoshi Nakagawa
Noism0＋Noism1 “As Time Goes By”Premiere：2021.8.13 TOKYO MET SaLaD MUSIC FESTIVAL 2021
Direction, choreography: Jo Kanamori
Music: John Adams "The Chairman Dances"
Performed by : Noism0＝Jo Kanamori
Noism1＝Rio Miyoshi, Kota Nakao, Sakura Shojima, Sumire Shojima, Hikaru Tsubota, Akira Hiura, Yuki Itokawa, Natsuki Ota, Ikumi Kanenobu, Tatsushi Matsunaga (Noism1 associate member)
Jo Kanamori Noism0 "Suspended Garden" | Direction, choreography
Choreographer, Dancer. General Artistic director of Noism Company Niigata. Moved to Europe when he was 17 years old, he studied under Maurice Béjart and others. He began creating while studying at Rudra Béjart School Lausanne and made his debut as choreographer at the age of 20 while enrolled in NDT2. After ten years of playing an active part as dancer and choreographer for several dance companies in Europe, he returned to Japan. In April 2004, he was appointed as artistic director of the Dance Division of RYUTOPIA, and established Noism, Japan’s first residential dance company of a public theatre. He is active in a wide range of activities, such as directing and choreographing an opera conducted by Seiji Ozawa at the Saito Kinen Festival Matsumoto. He has won many awards, including the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Award for Artistic Encouragement, and the Niigata Nippo Culture Award both in 2008, and the 60th Mainichi Art Award. He received the Medal with Purple Ribbon in 2021.
Ryohei Kondo Noism1 "ningenshikaku" | Direction, choreography
Choreographer/Dancer. In 1996, he launched the dance company "Condors" for which he composes, choreographs and directs. Has performed in about 30 countries around the world. Choreographed and performed in NHK's “Salaryman NEO”, choreographed in NHK's television series “Teppan”, and NHK's historical drama “Idaten”. Active in many fields, including theatre productions by Hideki Noda, films and TV commercials. Also involved in social contribution through dance, such as the audience-participation performance “Condors’ Play Education Plan” for children from the age of 0 and performances by the “Handles”, a dance team made up of people with disabilities. He is also a professor at Tama Art University and lecturer at Tokyo University and Rikkyo University. Awarded the 4th Asahi Performing Arts Award Terayama Shuji Prize, the 67th Japanese Minister of Education, Culture, Sport, Science and Technology Award, the 67th Yokohama Culture Prize and the 42nd Nimura Dance Prize. Artistic director of Saitama Arts Theatre since 2022. Raised in Peru, Chile and Argentina. Dog lover.
Aiichiro Miyagawa Noism0 "Suspended Garden" | Guest Performance
Born in Saitama, Japan. He graduated from Kanto International Senior High School, Theatre Department and moved to New York at the age of 19 to study modern dance at the Alvin Ailey School. During his time in the USA, he had a varied career, including a TV commercial for GAP. He was a dancer, ballet master and was in charge of workshops at Noism, where he was a member from 2005 to 2013. Currently based in Tokyo, he is active as a dancer, actor, choreographer, director and teacher. His independently produced dance film “Move on” was screened at 19 film festivals in 10 countries and won four Grand Prix awards. He also won the Best Supporting Actor Award at the 2020 Kadoma International Film Festival for his performance in the short film “Fly, Flow, Cease”. Part-time lecturer at Toho Gakuen College of Drama and Music, Drama Course.
Satoshi Nakagawa Noism0 "Suspended Garden" | Guest Performance
Studied contemporary dance under Asako Wada from the age of six. He graduated from Kanto International Senior High School, Theatre Department. Graduated from Nihon University College of Art, Theatre Department, Dance Course. Since 2009, he has been a member of Noism, Japan's first dance company with a permanent residency at a theatre, always dancing major parts. He left Noism after playing Tybalt for Noism1 x SPAC “ROMEO & JULIETS” in 2018. He later returned to Tokyo and appeared in works by Motoko Hirayama, Shinji Nakamura, Mako Kawano, Kaiji Moriyama, Ryu Suzuki and others. Part-time lecturer at Nihon University College of Art, Theatre Department, Dance Course.
Major recent works
Mar-May 2022 Musical “La Caje aux Folles - Clowns in the Cage” as Rossin.
Jun 2022 “NINJA” New National Theatre, Tokyo (Direction, choreography by Kaiji Moriyama)
Nov 2022 New National Theatre Ballet Company’s “The Rite of Spring” (Direction, choreography: Motoko Hirayama) Guest performance
Dec 2023 Leading role in Yamato City Ballet's “SOUTATSU”
2024 “Spirited Away” as Kaonashi
An Tôn Thất Noism0 "Suspended Garden" | Music
Tôn Thất An is a Vietnamese composer born in Paris and based in Taipei since 2010. His work is centred in Asia, where he has collaborated with artists from various fields: performing arts, exhibitions and art installations, fashion or songwriting.
A film buff from his childhood, he has supported through his music the recent emergence of a new wave in Vietnamese cinema, with films such as Ash Mayfair's ‘The Third Wife’ (2018), Leon Lê's ‘Song Lang’ (2018), Trần Thanh Huy's ‘Ròm’ (2019) and Bùi Thạc Chuyên's ‘Glorious Ashes’ (2022). Film projects soon would come to him from all over Asia, including Naomi Kawase's ‘True Mothers’ (2020), Edmund Yeo's adaptation of Banana Yoshimoto's short story ‘Moonlight Shadow’ (2022), Su Hung En's ‘Hunter Brothers’ (2024) in Taiwan, Lee Yong Chao's ‘Rain in 2020’ in Myanmar, and Rein Maychaelson's ‘Sammi, who can detach his Body Parts’ (2024) in Indonesia. Also passionate about dance, he has collaborated with Jo Kanamori, as well as Chinese choreographer Gang Peng, Nguyễn Tấn Lộc in Vietnam and Huang Yi in Taiwan. In 2013, the Berlin Symphony Orchestra commissioned him a symphonic tale, ‘The Legend of Thánh Gióng’, which was premiered at the Berlin Philharmonie Hall. In 2015, he launched and directed the first edition of ‘[FEEL] in/out’ in Saigon, an immersive art experience that gives a voice to independent Vietnamese artists, mixing performing arts, film, photography, installations, music, dance and fine arts.
After significant works like “NINA - materialize sacrifice” or “PLAY 2 PLAY - interfering dimensions”, “ENKAN” is his fifth collaboration with Jo Kanamori.
DIRECTOR'S NOTE
Noism1 “ningenshikaku”Direction, choreography: Ryohei Kondo
Tip. It has been almost 20 years since I choreographed for Noism.
There is a lot of energy that we don't know yet.
Everyone is interested in “living”.
There is one “box”.
The inside of the box is as dark as darkness.
The outside of the box is sparkling and fascinating.
The box sometimes wants to say things. Says things. Sometimes cries or laughs.
Write with a pencil. Connecting the start and end points creates a “shape”.
It can be a circle or a square.
Looking around the room. “Fridge, mobile phone, shoe box, playing cards, window” - all square.
My feelings are shikaku (square).
“Ningen Shikkaku”, no, “Ningenshi/kaku”, no, no, “Nin: Genshikaku”
Oops, this is bad!
It has no connection with Kobo Abe's “The Box Man”
It is like the days of ningen (everyone in Noism) who live with the box.
Such a challenge of “living”.
Noism0 ”Suspended Garden” Direction, choreography: Jo Kanamori
This autumn, Aiichiro Miyagawa returns to Noism after 11 years and Satoshi Nakagawa after five years. Both dancers have been with Noism1 for many years and were Iseki's partners. When current Noism0 dancer Yuki Yamada is added to the list, it will be a complete line-up of Iseki's previous partners.
Iseki, Yamada, Miyagawa and Nakagawa. What kind of work will I create for these four? It is precisely because they are dancers who know my choreography well, and because they are all mature dancers, I wanted to create a work that could only be created by these four dancers, that much was decided.
However, it was difficult to select the music to be used. I could only come up with images that had a sense of déjà vu. With them, I could create something more unknown, more uncertain, more tingling. So, for the first time in seven years, I decided to ask Tôn Thất An to join us.
Because no composer knows the dancers Iseki, Yamada, Miyagawa and Nakagawa as well as An. Because no composer knows Noism and choreographer Jo Kanamori as well as An. An readily agreed to the commission and wrote a new piece of music, very much An.
The months and days we have each spent, the experiences we have had, have become flesh and blood and made us what we are today. What has remained the same, what has been newly discovered, what has been refined, what has been lost...
With all these things, four dancers gather in An's sound world and my direction world.
A choreographer, dancers and a musician, who know each other well, create one stage (a suspended garden). It is not about bringing people together for the sake of creation, but about the fact that creation begins when people get together. It is with these five that I can (and want to) challenge such primitive creation.
Now I continue to listen to the music delivered by An, while biting between anxiety and excitement. This creation seems to close a circle (connection) of Noism's 20th anniversary, I hope it will be the beginning of a new circle (connection) for the next Noism.
Prologue to the replay of “As Time Goes By”Jo Kanamori
This work was conceived for presentation at the SaLaD Music Festival, and was conceived for a very specific space in the front of the concert hall stage, that is, a limited space in front of the orchestra, with only one entrance on each side of the stage. The music to be used, “The Chairman Dances” by J. Adams, was the strongest inspiration from among the candidates sent by the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra.
Like a steam locomotive passing in front of you, with a puff of white smoke, or like a racehorse running down the straight course of the Niigata racecourse, the dancers running across the stage (time). And a man gazing at them. The man tries to hold the dancers in place as they run past. However, they continue to dance (live) the impermanent time with joy and an uplifting feeling. At some point, the man, too, begins to dance (live) the impermanent time with joy and an uplifting feeling. And all is past, and the man thinks lovingly of the time (stage) that has passed.
It is clear that this inspiration is drawn from my artistic activities, in other words, from Noism. The first performance was in 2021. When we finally started to free ourselves from the COVID-19 pandemic. The foreign dancers who belonged to Noism at that time returned all at once to their home countries. I, as the choreographer, have to admit that the willingness to accept this reality is at the root of this creation (inspiration). Creation for me is a way of accepting the irresistible reality.
I am delighted that it will be performed by the new members of the company, thanks to the decision of Iseki, Artistic Director of the International Activities Department, to prove or override the inspirations that were in place at the time of its creation. I am also excited about the idea of modifications to the theatre version.
A good dancer can turn a moment into eternity. It means that they have the power to make you forget, for a short time, a heartless time that passes. It means that they have the ability to leave an everlasting imprint in the hearts of the audience of a heartless time that passes. We hope that this replay will be an opportunity to discover the new brilliance of the current members, and we hope that this brilliance will remain etched in the hearts of the audience for a long time to come. Stay a while! You are so beautiful...
MOVIE
Noism0 / Noism1 "ENKAN" trailer Part1
Noism0 / Noism1 "ENKAN" trailer part2
Noism0 / Noism1 "ENKAN" trailer part3
[Niigata performance]
Organized by: Niigata City Art & Culture Promotion Foundation
Co-produced by: RYUTOPIA Niigata City Performing Arts Center / Saitama Arts Theatre
Cooperative Programme of RYUTOPIA Niigata City Performing Arts Center × Kitakyushu Performing Arts Center × BIWAKO HALL Center for the Performing Arts, Shiga
Subsidized by: Subsidy for the Promotion of Culture and Art by the Agency for Cultural Affairs (Project to promote the functional enhancement of theatres, music halls, etc.) | Japan Arts Council,
Japan Foundation for Regional Art-Activities
[This project is subsidized by Niigata City.]
[Fukuoka (Kitakyushu) performance]
Organized by: Kitakyushu Arts Foundation
Co-organized by: Kitakyushu City
Co-produced by: RYUTOPIA Niigata City Performing Arts Center / Saitama Arts Theatre
Subsidized by: Japan Foundation for Regional Art-Activities
Cooperative Programme of RYUTOPIA Niigata City Performing Arts Center × Kitakyushu Performing Arts Center × BIWAKO HALL Center for the Performing Arts, Shiga
[Shiga performance]
Organized by: BIWAKO HALL Center for the Performing Arts, Shiga
Co-produced by: RYUTOPIA Niigata City Performing Arts Center / Saitama Arts Theatre
Cooperative Programme of RYUTOPIA Niigata City Performing Arts Center × Kitakyushu Performing Arts Center × BIWAKO HALL Center for the Performing Arts, Shiga
Subsidized by: Subsidy for the Promotion of Culture and Art by the Agency for Cultural Affairs (Project to promote the functional enhancement of theatres, music halls, etc.)| Japan Arts Council,
Japan Foundation for Regional Art-Activities
Supported by: the Shiga Prefectural Board of Education
[Saitama performance]
Organized by: Saitama Arts Foundation / Niigata City Art & Culture Promotion Foundation
Co-produced by: RYUTOPIA Niigata City Performing Arts Center / Saitama Arts Theatre
Subsidized by: Subsidy for the Promotion of Culture and Art by the Agency for Cultural Affairs (Project to promote the functional enhancement of theatres, music halls, etc.)| Japan Arts Council