Tokyo is awash with festivals of dance this month, mostly by solo dancers, which is not surprising since the majority of performers here prefer the controlled environment of one-man shows. But what is surprising is that even with all the organization involved in planning these events, the sudden accumulation of small and more ambitious dance "festivals" in February indicates a grave lack of communication in the dance community.
The competition for audiences will be strong in the coming weeks as the level of performance, even at the fringe festivals, is high. The most ambitious of these collections of dance will expect performers to create a new piece, especially when they feature on a double or triple bill in solos of about 20 minutes apiece. The chaff and the wheat get swiftly sorted into the experienced dancers who pass off old work and up-and-coming dancers who seize the performance opportunity and exposure offered by their inclusion with better-known performers. But for most spectators, these shorter programs are perfect-sized windows into the state and status of modern dance here.
The Die Pratze space in Kagurazaka in central Tokyo features dancers through Feb. 23 who also choreograph and perform with their own groups. The month-long festival kicked off Jan. 25-26 with pieces by Nakao Ikemiya and Noriko Kumagai of the company Nomades. Kumagai is one of our strongest performers, and the total theater of "I Want to See Dance" was an auspicious beginning for the small alternative venue's first major dance collection.