21st Century Choreography of the United Kingdom 　 and Japan

By Miho Kodama

What is 21st century choreography?

• We still do not have any answer, because only 10 years have passed in the 21st century.

• The 21st Century will be made by us.• It will change by following the characteristics of the age

Characteristic points of the 21st century choreographers • Keep challenging themselves to create new dance • Combine several technologies (video projection,

Animation, music, and images etc…)• Using more expression than movement• Border between dance and acting becomes more blurred

Picked two choreographers from each country

Newer choreographers in UK and Japan

The choreographers who have their own company

Recently has been creating a new piece

21st century choreographer’s biography

Jasmin Vardimon (JasminVardimon Company)

• Joined the Kibbutz Dance Company• In1997, founded Jasmin

Vardimon Company• She became an Associate

Artist at Sadler’s Wells in 2006

Yukio Suzuki(Kingyo Company)

• Trained in Butoh• From 2000, started

Kingyo Company• In 2008, received

Choreography award for leading choreographer of the next generation

7734 by Jasmin Vardimon

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6LCxglzJmY

HEAR by Kingyo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GdnHxl4588

Difference of expression

Smooth

Free

Restricted

Inorganic

UK Japan

Effort graph by Rosemary Brandt

directbound

light flexible

free

Suddensustained

Release

Tension

UK dance history

Court dance

Classical ballet

Modern dance

Post modern dance

Contemporary dance

Think about difference from dance history

United KingdomCourt dance• Social dance• Moving elegantly and smoothly

Classical Ballet• Turned out legs. About elegance and flow. The pointe shoe

was invented

Modern dance and Post modern dance• More freedom

Contemporary dance• Challenging and exploring new things

Japanese dance history

Japanese traditional

danceBUTOH

Contemporary dance

Classical ballet

Modern dance

Think about difference from dance history

JapanJapanese traditional dance• Need to train a lot• Movement and expression was limited

Butoh• Strange and restricted• Tension(Classical ballet and modern dance are also existing at this time)

Contemporary dance• Challenging and exploring new things

UK Folk dance

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fgeusv1jWDs&feature=related

Japanese Bon dance

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UWGPbkJLJI

UK folk dance

Focused on footsteps

• Focused on feet, travels in space• Formation changes easily

Centre is always up

• Similar to classical ballet

Japanese Bon dance

Focused on hands

• Smaller movement • They are mostly dancing in the same place due

to wearing Yukata

Centre was grounded

• Similar to Japanese traditional dance and BUTOH

Difference about culture

UK style Japanese style

Japanese table Kimono

Tatami

Western table Western clothes

Flooring

Difference of general expression

United Kingdom

• Expressing directly and clearly with words

Concrete

Japan

• Catch and feel what people are thinking without saying

Abstract

Connecting recent Contemporary dance

Why I thought …

• UK dance tends to be more free, so they can explain concretely what the dancer or choreographer want to tell the audience • Japanese dance tends to be more restricted, so it

is comparatively more difficult to explain through the usage of movement• General expressions of daily life also affect the

expressions seen in dance

Conclusion…• Even though the world is moving technologically in the same

direction, directly affecting 21st century choreography, if people’s customs and cultures are different, the pieces they might create may also become different .

• People should preserve the uniqueness of their cultures and embrace their differences. However, choreographers can connect to audiences of both countries by understanding the two cultures.

• The cultural differences are not only existing in the UK and Japan. Each country has their own different culture and customs, so understanding each country’s culture may help choreographers to make work that is appealing to all parts of the world.

The end…

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