Starting with the inclusion of methods Seki would not normally choose like ballet technique as source material for her dancers’ movements, in the creation of this work Seki had in mind a picture satirizing the way the media tends to extract one aspect of an incident and report it on that basis, and the philosophy of Yuval Noah Harari who says that religions, states, laws, corporations, currency and other human-made concepts are, like myths, fabrications that do not actually exist. In addition, the work utilizes rope, based on insights gleaned from research into body balance trainer Isao Koseki’s “himotore”technique (a form of balance exercise using rope). For Seki, visualizing rope as thought, rules, certificates, and permits designed to control ethnic groups and those on the opposite side, or as something that expands the feelings, or as living things with different states and ecologies was a way of attempting to produce subtle changes in the dancer’s physical sensations, and of attempting changes important for the dancing of this piece. Is the world you believe in really true? Is what you are looking at now really what you think it is? The hope is that this work will give audiences a palpable experience and stimulate their imagination.
Choreography/direction/spatial art concept: Kaori Seki
Performed by: Masataka Uchiumi, Kenji Osako, Shiki Kitamura, Yu Goto, Miki Sasaki, Shun Shimizu, Kozue Takamiya, Haruka Makabe
Kaori Seki Co. PUNCTUMUN
Centering around Kaori Seki, this company engages in creation and choreography.
Established in 2013. PUNCTUMUN is a portmanteau coined by Seki, made up of the words “punctum,” meaning a small point, a spot, or a puncture in Latin, and “un,” meaning one in French. It means one is in fact a collection of countless small points. Since 2017, PUNCTUMUN has received numerous invitations from overseas including from Montreal (Canada), and Hong Kong. In August 2019, the group performed “WO CO” in Italy and Germany. “Mukumeku Mu” premiered in February 2020 and was revived for the stage at Kyoto Experiment in October 2021. The troupe’s new work “KOMOKOMO KENAMOTO” was staged in February, 2022.
Satoko Suchi
Producer
Dantai Seki Kaori
3-13-9-301, Jyujonakahara, Kita-ku, Tokyo 114-0031
+81-(0)90-7908-2712
contact.punctumun@gmail.com
KICHIJOJI THEATRE, Musashino-city, Tokyo