Kim Itoh: Last at Art Summit<\/p>\n
Kim Itoh & The Glorious Future will be the last dance performance
\nat Art Summit Indonesia 2004.<\/p>\n
The company can be seen at 8 p.m. on Oct. 8 and Oct. 9 at
\nGedung Kesenian Jakarta, Central Jakarta.<\/p>\n
The double bill due to be performed will be Dead and Alive --
\nBody on the borderline and F.T.<\/p>\n
Dubbed the "bad boy of Butoh", 30-something Kim Itoh's
\nchoreography is daring and thought-provoking: an eclectic and, on
\noccasion, twisted fusion of post-Butoh movement and contemporary
\ndance.<\/p>\n
Kim Itoh trained in Butoh, the expressive Japanese postwar
\navant-garde dance form, arguably the most significant Asian
\ninfluence on the world's contemporary dance lexicon to date,
\nunder Anzu Furukawa.<\/p>\n
In 1990 he started doing solos, and finally founded his own
\ncompany, Kim Itoh & The Glorious Future, five years later. He has
\nbeen performing around the world since, winning critical acclaim,
\nincluding several dance awards, both at home and abroad.<\/p>\n
Inspired by novelist Saiichi Maruya's comment, "the modern
\nJapanese are neither alive nor dead, machine man-types who obey
\norders without thinking", Dead and Alive -- Body on the
\nborderline is a powerful piece, a scrutinized exploration of the
\nbody, at the convergence between being dead and alive,
\nquestioning non-functional existence.<\/p>\n
Accompanied by music by Mendelssohn and Ravel, an onstage
\ndancer (Kim Itoh with his head covered) knee-sweeps the floor in
\nfront of three male (semi-nude) dancers, composing a quartet
\nwhose movements contrive to be both serious and funny at the same
\ntime.<\/p>\n
The repertoire is Kim Itoh's answer to the question "what is a
\ntruly living body?", a poetic account indeed, yet thrilling as
\nwell.<\/p>\n
The second piece, F.T, reveals another side of Kim Itoh, whose
\nchoreographic theme is based on the extraordinary quality in
\nordinary everyday life, expressed with a touch of sarcasm and
\nhumor.<\/p>\n
A dance imbued by the science-fiction story of three young
\ngirls whose world is invaded by an alien insect, this piece is
\ndelivered in a manner that is theatrical, cheeky, manic, ironic
\nand comically over-toned, making it difficult to categorize.<\/p>\n
He fuses post-Butoh expressive contemporary dance, disturbing
\nballet steps, Western theater plus movement music and lighting
\ninto a witty stage picture.<\/p>\n
Sankai Juku's eloquent performance at Art Summit I (1995) was
\none of the first Butoh revivals.<\/p>\n
Kim Itoh's is the latest, critical description of what
\nJapanese theater critic Otori Hidenaga, who presented a paper at
\nthe Arts Summit seminar, described as the "body in dementia"
\nphenomenon in Japanese society.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/kim-itoh-last-at-art-summit-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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