Observing rehearsals by the physical-theater company Taihen for their upcoming "Over the Rainbow" show at ABC Hall in Osaka was in many ways a free-jazz experience.
On a compositional level, the Taihen stage is an intimate meeting-ground between cast, crew, musicians and audience. The performers, who in the company's own words, "have polio, cerebral palsy or other conditions," move in their skin-tight leotards between free-form and set choreographies in a montage of vignettes that explores the human condition in a post-catastrophe environment.
The dancers operate within a tightly controlled time structure that's partly maintained (and disrupted) by a sonorous onstage jazz trio led by the renowned saxophonist and composer Kosei Yamamoto — and partly by the highly disciplined black-clad kuroko (stage hands) who assist some of the performers with entrances, exits and cues. And there's also the company managers and volunteer staff helping to keep everything moving along as intended.