In this project, team chiipro’s new dance work“nanako by nanako” was staged at YAU CENTER from March 15-18 (with choreography/composition by team chiipro, performed by Nanako Matsumoto).
The work entails a critical reenactment of photographic and video methods of analysis used in the 19th century to analyze hysteria, using the invented video playback machine “Bunbunmaru.”
During the performance, Matsumoto herself hand-rotates video of herself filmed by artist Eri Saito in black and white; meanwhile Matsumoto’s memories of her “transformation” during adolescence are interwoven with footage of hysteria patients, footage of Sayo Kitamura (founder of the “dancing religion” Tensho Kotai Jingukyo), and images of insect metamorphosis with an audio accompaniment. Matsumoto danced along to a collage of images created by Matsumoto herself.
In traditional “shapeshifting” folklore and hysteria analysis, women’s bodies are said to transform due to the powerful emotion of jealousy. Regarding the powerful emotion of jealousy to be a form of “choreography” defined by a perspective based on heterosexual norms, this work is an attempt to conceive a different type of “transformation” choreography.
After the performances, team chiipro collaborated with artist Nao Usami to create an experimental video recording entitled “nanako by nanako with nao” for online distribution.