Roba no Ongakuza One of the most creative approaches I've seen to blending early European music with playful theatricality is presented by "Roba Musical Theater". Dance, puppetry, mime, etc. add a gleeful element to this group, which has also mastered dozens of medieval and Renaissance instruments. Their arrangements of traditional tunes and original composition in traditional styles are inspired. |
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Mishaal American dancer Mishall has studied her art in the U.S., South Asia, Southeast Asia, and the middle east. Your eyes and heart are helpless under her spell. For years the man on the crest of
the modern primitive world music wave here, Mishall's husband Goro has
inspired a generation of dijereedoers. He also plays Arabic drums and
flutes, African kalimbas, and makes some of his own instruments. At the
show pictured left and below we're joined by Amamania
on strings and hand drums.
Dreamy, lovely stuff.
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Butoh dance was originated by Kazuo Ohno, Tatsumi Hijikata, and his wife Akiko Motofuji. I was invited to perform with her and a group of her students at a gallery opening. Rehearsal started with the group stuff. Then, while the rest continued their work, she and I worked up a solo dance. She invoked birth, flowering, maturity, and life's end, all to four tunes I played on my psaltery. She was an easy, inspiring partner to accompany. |
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On opening night she called to say she was in the hospital, resting from a heart attack, and to please go on without her. I was later told that the life she danced in our rehearsal was the final dance of her life. It was gorgeous. She was gorgeous. |
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Canadian Terry
Press and his Japanese wife Nobuko perform a style
of mime rare in it's depth and impact. Doing the musical
accompaniment for their production of "Little
Life Story" was a
delightful and moving experience. |
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Dalma
Mori While I approached puppetry from a
musical perspective, Dalma Mori came to music and puppetry from a
painter-sculpter background. Or did the chicken precede the egg?
However it happened, his mastery of multi-media results in the wizardly
miracle of your smile being one of his creations.
His work is so far "out of the box" that he would probably be airborn and space-bound were it not for the grounding earth anchor provided by equally creative partner Eriko. |

