Ballet audiences in Japan are widely acknowledged to be among the best in the world, but there's still a lot to be learned here about contemporary dance. However, those seeing a show in a short tour of works by French choreographers Mathilde Monnier and Jean-Francois Duroure can be sure of enjoying a dance-history lesson of particular importance.
Fresh off performances last weekend in Aichi Prefecture, the pair bring "Pudique Acide / Extasis" — a major restaging of their first collaboration more than 20 years ago — to Arts Theater Kobe Dance Box on Nov. 2 and Saitama Arts Theater on Nov. 9.
The 70-minute work, which comprises two shows that each feature the same two dancers, reveals a special time in modern choreography. Created during the period of American Abstraction in dance, the productions continued the contemporary legacy begun with Francois Verret and Viola Farber, Merce Cunningham and Pina Bausch.