What do you get when you mix classical ballet and modern dance with traditional Indonesian gamelan and dance, a vocalist with a 31/2-octave range and monochrome works of art designed for a small performance space that was once a storage room?
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| Jijijyujyu |
I don't have a clue, but it's bound to be funky.
On Saturday and Sunday, a quartet of Japanese female artists who call themselves Jijijyujyu will collaborate in a joint concert/happening at Shibuya's Space Edge Gallery to explore "time" from past to present, East to West, ancient to modern, conventional wisdom to anything goes, in their own respective ways.
When pressed for more details about what this exploration is likely to entail, Jijijyujyu's Michiko Ikeda was less than forthcoming. "I can't tell what will happen exactly because we do a lot of improvisation," she said. "As we encounter each other's interpretation, we move toward a harmonious vision of the future." So there you have it.
Ikeda, who trained in classical ballet and modern dance with a smattering of Hatha Yoga thrown in for good measure, stands at the opposite end of the spectrum from Jijijyujyu's other dancer, Yuki Kojima, who performs and teaches Javanese music and dance and has worked with the Gamelan Gong Ensemble for the past three years. The group's other members are equally intriguing: Ichiko Nakada, like Kojima, is a graduate of Geidai, and studied voice and Javanese gamelan in Indonesia, while Atsuko Shimamura is a talented artist with a sense of humor. All take their work very seriously. When they come together, I anticipate a delightful two hours of creativity and artistic, but offbeat, excellence.
A few advance tickets are left for Saturday evening's performance and day-of-the-performance tickets are available.