This project was an experiment in providing a “place for dialogue of the body” allowing people to mutually verify what their bodies are feeling or experiencing; something that is difficult to grasp with solo movement. The project’s starting point was dance-based exercises using contact improvisation, a dance technique in which dance is improvised through physical contact with others. The project targeted people who found issues with/developed interest in the concept of “touching /being touched” after experiencing the coronavirus pandemic. Participants from the public and creative members of the project participated in monthly workshops and talk meetings on an equal footing. A stage performance and art exhibition were created for June which referenced various experiences and conversational exchanges from the workshops and talk meetings. The June events gave audience members the opportunity to have hands-on experience of exercises based around “touching/being touched,” and included an audio exhibition entitled “Touching/Being touched/Unable to be touched” featuring quotes from workshop participants. After visiting the exhibition, audience members could take part in an audience-only philosophical exchange as well as a guest-attended symposium. These initiatives are helping AAPA work towards the coexistence of creative/performative environments, and platforms for bringing out the creativity and individuality of participants/audience members from the public.
AAPA
Launched in 2004 as a project to “present the continuation between the everyday and the stage,” AAPA have staged dance works in a variety of performance spaces. In 2013 it opened Hinodecho Danchi Studio in Kitasenju (Adachi City, Tokyo), offering bodywork and contact improvisation classes designed to encourage “body awareness.” The group also holds workshops in a variety of locations, aiming to expand opportunities for diverse people to focus on the body, and interact through elements that are not ordinarily possible to verbalize.
Ryuhei Uemoto
representative
AAPA
Hinodecho Danchi 1-103, Hinodecho, Adachi-ku, Tokyo 120-0021
aapajp@gmail.com
Ryougoku Monten Hall, Sumida City, Tokyo
Gei to Studio, Sumida City, Tokyo
Hinodecho Danchi Studio, Adachi City, Tokyo
BUoY, Adachi City, Tokyo
Nakacho House, Adachi City, Tokyo