This Sunday we will be screening the video of the PURE Reflections show we did in Tokyo last year to raise money for AmeriCares and American Humane Association's Japan disaster relief.
And though it has taken me months, I still have to tell the story of How PURE Reflections Came to Japan!
So....continuing where I left off ...too many months ago... (yes, I'm a sporadic blogger, but I'm getting better!!)
My plane tickets to Tokyo were bought; the Yokohama theater was rented. Now that money had changed hands, I knew that PURE Reflections was coming to Japan. Or, at the very least I was coming to Japan!! If, heaven forbid, something went wrong with the planning, I would have a nice week-long vacation in the land of the Rising Sun.
But as of October 2010, it was full-steam ahead.
And so much to be done!!
The Tokyo team stepped right up, finding a clean, inexpensive hotel and wrangling our various schedules (we were all arriving and departing at different times due to our work schedules).
I put together a "Show Information" document to go with the Google Group, so we could keep all information in one place. And, the odd mistranslation notwithstanding, the administrative part was going swimmingly.
Kaeshi and PURE Tokyo facilitators Aya and Naho worked out a tentative cast list and rehearsal schedule.
I put together a Q & A detailing the technical and performance requirements of the show, and drafted a few group exercises to guide them into thinking symbolically about The Mirror and body image issues, personifying the "healthy" and "demon" aspects employed by the show's narrative.
Naho created stunning translations to the three songs with lyrics: Kristin Hoffman's "The Waking" and "Ocean in Me", and Tamar-Kali's "Ocean" -- all of which are beautifully evocative of the show's message.
The magnificent BodyPoet Kazuma, who had worked with PURE NYC earlier in the year and was now back in Japan, led the Tokyo dancers through mirror exercises so that they would get used to working improvisationally with each other. And he guided them through "demon" and "angel" exercises.
This was especially important because we wanted to tailor the show towards the Japanese sensibility. When the Demon figure emerges, it lures and then attacks those areas where we are least secure. While there was a lot of overlap, there were surprising differences. For example, one of our Demon sentences was, "Your butt is huge," which one would think would have resonance in a culture that also prized a lithe form -- yet they opted for "You have small eyes."
In addition to "Demon" sentences, the Japanese dancers had to further search their souls for healing sentences, which come into play at the end. Not surprisingly, they opted for more indirect affirmations. Instead of, "I am strong" they chose "I can be strong", and so forth.
Each dancer also submitted three photographs: one in early childhood, one in teenage years, and one as an adult, which is accompanied by their own personal quote.
Lastly, I drafted a full narrative of the story, marked in time with the music, for what would be our very first exercise together. I sent it to Naho, who would be my translator in our first exercise... but more about that later.
For final arrangements before leaving, we divvied up the props and costumes that needed to be brought. I took the free-standing "mirrors" (for which I had found the perfect duffel bag); Kaeshi took the fabric and the mirrors' lighted baseboards.
I meticulously went through each of the four mirror frames -- assembling, marking and disassembling them -- so they would be easy to jam together in a hurry.
The Tokyo dancers had custom ordered Diana Susanto's gorgeous nμde costumes, which Lale and I picked up.
And we were off!!
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