Koike aims to reflect energy in his works

Helly Minarti, Contributor, Jakarta

Dance and theater lovers might still remember the strong stage images of a dance piece performed by the well-known Japanese troupe, Pappa Tarahumara, at the last Arts Summit Indonesia. Although it has been more than a year, conversations about the piece, Love Letters, still pop up in arts circles.

This is not only because of the intriguing scene where a female dancer roams the stage for a few minutes topless, but the whole approach of the piece, combining dance, song (intricate vocal exploration), theater and stage art, is so enthralling and surprising.

Meet the mastermind of the piece, choreographer Hiroshi Koike, who has been at the helm of the troupe since its founding in 1982.

A few days before Christmas, the articulate artist visited Surakarta, Central Java, for a workshop organized by the Japan Foundation and the Indonesian Fine Arts School (STSI).

During four intensive days, from Dec. 21 to Dec. 24, 21 artists -- mostly students ranging from first year undergrads to postgraduates -- got together in the STSI Teater Besar, working on a short piece under Koike's direction. Among them were two theater actors from local groups plus two Japanese dancers from Pappa Tarahumara.

They started by exploring slow-motion movements.

"First, I'm teaching slow movements like you see in the second scene because everybody's movements -- regardless of their artistic background, whether from dance or theater -- are based on these. It's true that actors use their body or voice on stage, but basically if we take away all those words, what's left is the slow movement. It's the minimum expression -- but we have to master it," Koike said.

The piece, titled Bulan Berkeluh Kesah (The Moon is Complaining), is a fragmentation of many characters, representing people from all walks of life, often occupying the sidelines of society. Among them are prostitutes (young and old), gamblers, materialistic wives, homosexuals, lesbians, womanizers, cheating wives and husbands.

"It's based on something I did in Malaysia recently. But that's where the similarity ends -- ideas. Since we are using a different space, different players, the piece turns out differently from the one in Malaysia," he said.

The project is based on a larger one in Kuala Lumpur that Koike is now involved in.

"The Japan Foundation Kuala Lumpur has organized a big project for me. I've been there a couple of times so far. I'll go do a workshop there next year for around 35 days to make a new piece, culminating in a big performance in 2004. In connection with this, Manila and Indonesia were added to the program."

Cultural exchanges have become a regular part of Koike's busy schedule. At least once a year, he is involved in such collaborative programs with artists from different countries. For him, it is all part of his pursuit of self-awareness.

"We have to know ourselves -- where we come from, why we exist. To answer those questions, we can look at different factors in other people."

At the center of Koike's creative process is space and the body.

"We use our bodies onstage -- not only words. If we can't 'communicate' through our bodies, we can't make a good and deep performance. A heart-to-heart exchange between different cultures is very important for a good, satisfactory work."

As for themes, Koike deals with the question of "where do people come from and where do they go"?

"I like to explore the issue -- perhaps partly because I studied sociology. There's a social order or expectation on how we live. But can one hold on to hope in society? I don't want to offer a solution. But one theme can be seen from various sides; the difference between being 'normal' and 'abnormal' is actually very thin. Good and bad are actually very close -- like the two sides of a coin. That's what I'd like to describe -- and hopefully people will think about it."

Love Letters -- which was performed in Jakarta and Surakarta for the Arts Summit Indonesia 2001 -- is an episode from a bigger work titled WD, a short history of "what we have done".

"It's a contemplation of what we've done for the last century."

Bulan Berkeluh Kesah portrays the lives of those often seen as "abnormal" with wit and humor, in song, monologues and dance. In four days, the workshop participants were pushed to learn new forms while doing their best at improvisation.

"How does this kind of collaboration influence me? Hugely, spiritually. Everyone has his/her own energy, whether they're professionals or amateurs. Both interest me -- their energy. For example, the energy of Indonesians is different from other foreign performers. It makes the work done by them quite different.

"Something in me changes while I work in their energy. I don't know whether people will be able to see it clearly in my next work -- this influence -- perhaps it will eventually be reflected in the rhythm, the plot, the slow movements."

The word "Tarahumara" might sound Japanese but it is in fact the name of an ethnic group in Mexico, the subject of a book Koike wrote more than two decades ago.

"I'd read a book about them by a French writer-actor. It's very beautiful. He describes a forest full of butterflies which at some point fly away at the same time. So magical! I think what we have lost today in our modern world is that element of magic."

One small piece of magic was the staging of Bulan Berkeluh Kesah, after only four days of rehearsal. Koike didn't have time to set the lighting until two hours before the gates opened, but the piece exuded not only artistry, it also transferred fresh enthusiasm from both the Indonesian and Japanese artists involved.

Pappa Tarahumara official website: http://www.pappa- tara.com/index.html (the newly launched English version is still under construction).