Concurrent Sequence 4

1 is here

Day 3

The rehearsal started with Hiroaki asking the dancers what animal they chose, which was their homework from the day before. It is one of the tasks related to “texture”, but it was quite unusual for Hiroaki’s creation to pick some specific animals. The dancers chose one animal and one element of it, and their answers were already very unique.

During the rehearsal there was a part where the dancers literally mimicked some animals. The dancers copied animals using their whole body in playful but serious ways, some of which was in such high quality (it was so good that I couldn’t stop laughing). Of course mimicking itself wasn’t the goal, but that was already something very impressive and dynamic. This day’s task was a little different from the previous days but the goal is still the same, so it was like aiming for the goal from a different route.

Technical aspects too

While the dancers were working on the improvisation tasks which are mainly about textures and their feelings, Hiroaki also gave them some advice on more technical aspects. This kind of advice is also related to “awareness” which was mentioned in the previous article, so the dancers are doing not only physical work but also a lot of brainwork. (This is not something I should compare with the professional dancers, but when I tried Hiroaki’s movement method and improvisation tasks, I was in panic since there was a lot to think about all at once…)

Feedback between dancers

From the previous rehearsal, Hiroaki started asking the dancers to give each other feedback every time after watching each other’s improvisation. What they saw and felt? What they would like to see more? It is an important opportunity for the dancers to know how they are seen and received. It is one of my favourite parts of the rehearsal since their feedback is quite intuitive and real at the same time, and I can see them respecting each other.

The movement research and improvisation in Hiroaki’s rehearsals are more of a personal work as each of them are often given different tasks, so this feedback session is probably an opportunity to share the moment and build relationship between dancers.

Since the rehearsals with Taiwanese dancers are online, they gather in front of the main laptop to talk with Hiroaki once they finish their improvisation. I somehow like this moment too.