The word furimukuto describes the action of looking over your shoulder, as if suspicious that somebody is watching you, or perhaps just to check what's going on around you from all visual angles. Choreographer Shigehiro Ide chose it as the title for his newest dance work at Theater Tram in Tokyo's Sangenjaya Jan. 11-14.
What Ide has got to be suspicious about is anybody's guess. His company, Idevian Crew, is enjoying the sort of popularity most commonly reserved here for underage musicians and Hello Kitty products. Each new piece of choreography is breathlessly covered by the media, and not surprisingly, the Jan. 11 performance sold out well ahead of time.
The reason for all this enthusiasm is clear -- Ide's work "Which," from almost one year ago. "Which" charted the ungovernable territory of a Japanese funeral, and rendered it meaningful in dance and communicable body language. There wasn't one slack moment in the entire piece, despite the questionable taste of some of the more emotive scenes.