Premier 21st November 2018
Centre Culturel Régional Dudelange opderschmelz, Luxembourg
Dance: Yuko Kominami
Music: Tomás Tello
Video: Diego Vizcarra
The solo dance piece is about my father who died recently. It is based on my impression of the two weeks I spent time with him in his last days – after he was diagnosed with a cancer and was told he had some months left to live. He was going through his memories of his whole life, some of which I am familiar with and most of which I don’t know at all, trying to settle the end and also not giving up hope, while trying to enjoy life fully until the end. Iwa-kagami (Fringed Galax) is a pink flower which blossoms in certain mountains during a certain season. During this period that I spent time with him, due to his strong request we climbed up a very steep mountain to see this particular flower. I remember his happiness to see the flower, and the resemblance between him and the flower, crawling and blossoming beautifully.
The piece’s focus is an embodiment of memories, how the memories – which somehow consist the identity of that person – get dissolved into intensities rather than stories or categorized emotions and how one digests all these memories in the face of death. And afterwards, how those memories get transmitted to the ones who are left behind. There is a term “Somato” in Japanese, meaning revolving lantern, indicating the phenomena where all the memories of one´s life flash in front of him/her like a fast-forwarded film just before one’s death. What is this “Somato”? In the last week of his life, my father climbed into a mountain and did not come back, he was found lying in a bamboo forest, but he told us later he was not afraid, and was simply happy watching his life-long memories and knowledges passing in front of him.
It is a homage to a soul who cherished his life and precious memories and also to all beings who face bravely the process of dying. At the same time, it is an attempt to imagine the process and learn and prepare for our deaths to come.
The piece is to be performed in a space, which is not a conventional theatre space but more an intimate space and does not require a heavy technical setup – just a projection on a white wall, possibly a dance carpet, a couple of spot lights and a stereo system. It can be a room in a gallery, any empty room or an outdoor space too.
Executive production
Rhysom Danz Kollektiv asbl
Coproduction
Centre Culturel Réginal Dudelange opderschmelz
Centre de Création Chorégraphique Luxembourgeois TROIS C-L
Subvention
Fondation Indépendance
Residence
corpodehoje
TROIS C-L
Opderschmelz