This project involves dancer/choreographer Hiroaki Umeda and young Japanese dancers working together to explore and experiment with their own respective physicality, developed according to Umeda’s movement method, “Kinetic Force Method.”
The project’s aim is to explore and practice new methods for nurturing the next generation of dancers and conducting creative activities. In cooperation primarily with Tokyo University of the Arts and dance organizations in France and Singapore, the project focuses on collaborations with other genres and overseas artists. In addition to performances in metropolitan Tokyo, Umeda has his sights set on the overseas market, working to develop his creative activities on an international scale.
(2) Kinetic Force Method research, workshops
Details: These are classes aimed at basic improvement to the Kinetic Force Method, and research on movement. By holding Kinetic Force Method-based classes in workshop form for dancers outside the project/non-dancers as well as dancers, the aim is to promulgate the Method and improve its precision as a method.
Date: Year-round (1 to 3 times per month)
Venue: Dance studios in Tokyo and the suburbs
(2) Overseas performances and international co-production
Details: With the continuing cooperation of [H]ikari Production and CultureLink, the trainees will simultaneously conduct an overseas tour as well as a co-production with an overseas theater or festival and local artists. By this time they will have acquired the skills to oversee an operating structure that does not rely on subsidies.
Date: Several overseas performances throughout the year, and a co-production scheduled for late 2020
Venue: TBC
【Hiroaki Umeda】
Since 2002, Hiroaki Umeda’s choreography has been invited around the world including Chaillot National Theater in Paris, with performances in over 150 cities in 40 countries. His work goes beyond dance and choreography, encompassing sound, video and lighting design, earning him Honorary Mention at Prix Ars Electronica. In recent years, he has also produced installations focusing on physical sensation. His full-dome dance-based video installation won an award at the Fulldome Festival and has since been shown at festivals around the world.