concept / drection:  Tashi Iwaoka

direction / choreography / dance: Tomomi Tamagawa

music: Gábor Hartyáni

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k_a_g_e is a solo dance performance featuring elements of shadow play.The dancer, Tomomi Tamagawa reinterprets the ancient Japanese tale – Princess Kaguya, to touch the timeless-ness and universal aspects of human-ness beyond the cultural and historical boundaries. The unspoken emotions laying beneath the narrative are reflected through her shadow.

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Kage means shadow in Japanese.
Shadow is a great metaphor for, or the presentation of, what is behind the visible and obvious – the secrets of another world.
The title of this work refers to the literal meaning of the Japanese word and at the same time it refers also to what shadow contains as its metaphors and enigmas.

k_a_g_e is a collaboration between Tomomi Tamagawa and I. We share the same interest in investigating and rediscovering their own cultural background after living outside Japan for a long period.

Tomomi and I utilise our Japanese sensibilities to create this piece, like that of ’origami’ which has a very simple way to play – folding a sheet of paper, yet, can have a quite intricate manifold result.

There are only some work lamps on stage.

Tomomi dances in the lights from these lamps that ‘projects’ her shadows in her surroundings.
This minimal yet mystical atmosphere is accompanied by Gábor Hartyáni‘s new musical compositions.

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Being based on the Japanese tale, the solo intends not to convey the whole story of Princess Kaguya.
Instead, the aim of having the Japanese tale as its narrative element is to bring up the qualities and/or emotions of the characters in the story – beauty, love, seduction, desire, pain and sadness – by referring to some parts of the story.
Through that this piece attempts to touch the timeless-ness and universal aspects of human-ness beyond the cultural and historical boundaries, although the style of the work is, in many aspects, connected to Japanese culture and its sensibilities.
 

This work has been made possible by kind contributions from:
Kagoshima Bank, Maria Mavridou and Roman Zotter, Neil, Nami Yoshida, Anna Urbano, Kiyohiko Tsukada, Doron Hirsch, Shinnosuke Izumi, Kazuhiko Kuromusha, Makiko Ito, Rumiko Hirano, Emma Wilson, Ria Higler, Gabor Orosz, Kumi Koide, Ayane Onuma, the anonymous supporters and families.