The aim of this project is to identify themes for the work, and change participants’ thinking and their perspectives on the art scene by way of international collaboration between artists from Ireland and Japan – respectively the westernmost country in Europe and the easternmost country in Asia – as well as with artists from the Central Asian region that connects the two countries; and through the cultural traditions of the land, which nowadays tend to be neglected, the people who inherit these traditions, and cooperation involving contact with lifestyles and culture unique to a particular place. We hope participants will discover a new perspective on contemporary dance, which came to maturity through these traditions, and that collaborative creation will lead to development in participants’ future activities in terms of vision, experience, and improvement in technique for each.Using the keywords “locality,” “animism,” “shamanism,” and “city,” we will apply historical context to cross and connect local cultures, which for the most part remain obscure in a global society.The traditional Celtic culture of Ireland; the physical expression, sounds and narratives passed down since ancient times in Japan and Central Asia and of which nothing concrete remains: how do these speak to our memory, and how can they interact with Japanese traditions and the present in a way that transcends differences in expressive form, culture, nationality, language, etc.? Shamanism, collected spiritual belief and other forms of “prayer,” which have always been deeply associated with the coexistence of humans and nature during changes to the natural environment, were taken as important contemporary themes for this project.Through dance, music, and video evoked by the breaking up of orderly communities, the changes in people due to external intrusion, the loss of a sense of boundary between the inside and outside of the body, and by a dialogue of natural rhythms and “voice echoes” transcending language, we attempted to create a work outlining the pulse for the future of traditional culture, and bringing these keywords to the fore.

First year
Tokyo performance/workshop/lecture
Details
For the Tokyo performance in the project’s first year, collaborative creation with two Irish musicians who consented to self-isolate for two weeks after coming to Japan helped us understand each other’s culture and reflect this in the work.
It was heartbreaking not to be able to perform with an audience due to the state of emergency that was declared just before the performance. However, we were delighted that people were able to view the work across regions and generations through the release of a video version of the work, as well as an online workshop and lecture.

Time/date
Streaming of the performance: Saturday, January 23 – Friday, January 29, 2021
Zoom workshop/lecture: Wednesday, January 13, 2021
Venue: Performance recorded at Spiral Hall (Minato-ku, Tokyo)

Second year
Tokyo performances/workshops/lectures
Details
Year 2 of the project saw the creation of the work, which also involved research on Central Asia and collaboration with artists. Due to travel restrictions, the overseas artists involved were unable to come to Japan to perform the piece. But by taking the creative process online, we managed to stage a performance with the participation of artists from both Ireland and Uzbekistan. Additionally, the director/choreographer shared the background to the creation of the work with workshop participants, and online lectures looked at the nomadic cultures of Central Asia. In this way we shared how the work was forged through cross-cultural efforts.

Date/time
Performances: Friday, February 18 – Sunday, February 20, 2022
Workshops: Sunday, November 21, Sunday, November 28, 2021
Online lectures: Thursday, November 11, 2021 / Lecturer: Mikiya Nishimura (on Mongolia)
Friday, January 14, 2022 / Lecturer: Seika Wazaki (on Uzbekistan)
Venue: Spiral Hall (Minato-ku, Tokyo)

Third year
(1)Echoes of Calling: Uzbekistan/Ireland tour
Details
In Ireland and Central Asia (Uzbekistan), we arrived at mutual cultural understanding with the overseas artists/creators we had collaborated with in the first and second years, resulting in the staging of a refined version of the work “Echoes of Calling – Gushland” performed in Tokyo in February of this year, and the cultivation of exchange and interaction on a local level in workshops and other activities.

Uzbekistan
Venue: The Uzbekistan State Institute of Arts and Culture, Toshkent, Uzbekistan
Workshops
Monday, November 21/Tuesday, November 22, 2022
Performance
Tuesday, November 22, 2022
Instructor: Akiko Kitamura

Ireland
Venue: Mick Lally Theatre, Galway, Ireland
Workshop
Friday, November 25, 2022
Instructor: Akiko Kitamura, Mintesinot Wolde
Performance
Saturday, November 26, 2022

(2)Echoes of Calling – rainbow after –
Details
Incorporating local takeaway from Ireland and Central Asia (Uzbekistan), we took the opportunity to present a performance to a domestic audience as the culmination of the three-year project.
Through contact with undiluted “culture rooted in local community and lifestyle” as distinct from the cultural patterns in each region organized with an external focus, and by bringing the tense interaction between different cultures into the arena of dance creation, we then worked with the intention of establishing the dance forms and themes that would be used in the final piece.
Date/time: March 10-12, 2023
Venue: Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre Theatre East (Toshima-ku, Tokyo).