MAYUYuko Kominami

Fact Sheet“Mayu”

Year of creation: 2011

Duration: 30min

Cast

Choreography & Performance: Yuko KominamiMusic: Tomás Tello

Light: Elric Vanpouille

Coproduction: Centre Culturel Régional opderschmelz

Support: Fondation Indépendance, Centre de Création Chorégraphique TROIS C-L, Ministère de la Culture

Possible periods for touring

September 2012 - August 2014

Contact

Yuko Kominami+352 621 40 88 86

yukokomi@gmail.com

The pieceRebirthRedeathRebirth

And there’s always a lullabyin the womb

Swim!towards the voice

like a salmonthat goes up the river

(to lay eggs and then die)

Helloagain

Welcome!

“Mayu” is a solo dance piece with a live music performance. The piece is about rebirth (rebecoming) - a life-death spiral or rather a rhizome. The title “Mayu” means “river” in Quechua (the language from the Andes) and in Japanese the same word means “silkworm cocoon”. The piece tries to embark on a journey in this river of life-death that goes in and out of the womb-cocoon again and again.

The dance and music play organically in this universe. They remain in the simplicity of per-formance in itself resorting to a minimalistic environment supported only by a delicate light design. It is an exploration of dance and sound in their core forms. This is carried out by let-ting them unfold themselves into movements through different landscapes. In the process at times dancer’s body metamorphorses into different materials and the musician periodically alters from unity to multiplicity. Therefore the solo performances can take forms of group performances that consist of different molecules, creatures and elements creating their own communicative universe. There are no more loneliness but only conversations - the love which swims up the river.

Work Process

“Mayu” started with a choreographer’s strong will to explore the very core of the movement – be born, live, die and be born again – the spiral flow of life. From the very begining of the creation period, the choreographer and the musician worked together to create the piece organically as the way the river of life-death flows.

Why this piece now?

“Mayu” suggests a simple and premitive yet vital space for contemplation. With its timeless theme, it invites the audience to slow down from the busy quotidian rhythms and submerge in an unfolding universe.

Choreographic approach

The dance exults in letting the recurrent life forces develop their own pathways. It starts from the point of “My body is no more mine”. The body might be one individual but can be made up of different individuals – life forces, energies, drops of water, creatures, grains of sand, shadows, molecules and so on – and at any given moment they can suddenly take a completely different face . The dancer’s body plays both a solo composition and symphony while unfolding a different landscape. The body keeps on collapsing by keeping its balance. always on the verge of a recurrent journey of life, death, rebirth, life...... and so forth.

The music is principally inspired by a meaning of the word “Mayu” – “river” in Quechua. It intends to be a sound scenary for the dancer’s movements. Flute and panpipe drones , electric guitar, self made oscilator and field recording treated samples are used to create this. And also the influence of music from the Andes plays important part in creating this organic atmosphere. The intentions of the music and the dance are connected in a very subtle way and together they create a hypnotic athmosphere where every little movement is perceived.

Impressions

© P

atr

ick

Ga

lba

ts

Watch the trailer :

http://vimeo.com/21291224

TeamYuko Kominami

Born in 1973, Japan. She studied butoh and dance in Tokyo. After finishing her BA in Japanese history at Waseda University, she did a Professional Diploma in Community Dance Studies and an Independent Study Programme at Laban Centre London from 1998 to 2000. She ob-tained her MA in Dance Cultures, Histories and Practices from the University of Surrey in 2006. She has been working as an independent dance and performance artist. She has collabo-rated with other dancers, choreographers, artists, musicians and theatre directors of various landscapes. Recently she has been frequently working with a company Ten Pen Chii directed by Yumiko Yoshioka and Joachim Manger in Berlin, Germany. She lives in Luxembourg.

Her work consists of experiments with movements in-between (movements of becoming) where intensities of individuals intersect. And through these experiments she aims towards affirmations of multiple and fragmented movements of ‘a life’.

It is best represented in her series of solo pieces that explore connections between individuals. One is “When the Peony Breaks...” (2006), which focuses on both personal and collective memories and which experiments with taking those memories into molecular movements. The dancer’s body is juxtaposed with fragments of words and with an object, namely kimono underwear. “Linnunrata” (2007), explores the subject of love, separation and connection. It draws inspiration from a Japanese popular folklore in which a crane takes the shape of a woman and weaves a tapestry using her own plumes as an act of love. The skin and plumes are plucked and weaved forming a connection. The “reMEMBRANEce” (2009) explores individual and collective memories with a focus on skin. It consists of solo dance (Yuko Kominami) and video projection (Catherine Richard). Two female artists’ autobiographical memories will be juxtaposed, layered and intersected with other collected childhood and family memories to create a space where I, you, we – personal and collective – resonate and unfold in an adventure of individuality, connectivity and collectivity.

Tomás Tello

Born in 1981 in Lima, Peru. He had a deep interest in sound from a very early age. He studied harmony and composition with Jorge Madueño and guitar with Andrés Prado. From 2001 to 2002 he lived in Barcelona and attended the “Taller de Musics”, there he practiced the Oud with Gani Mirzo. Back in Lima he studied traditional peruvian guitar with Gustavo Urbina. From 2004 to 2006 he lived in Buenos Aires. There he studied Alexander Technique lesson with Jessica Nardelli and guitar lessons with Fernando Kabusacki. From year 2006 to 2009 he lived in Lima and was very active in the local musical enviroment. He formed the duo “Shaolines del Amor” with Raúl Jardín and played many concerts in Perú and in Chile. He is established in Luxembourg since 2009 and works with choregrapher Yuko Kominami , teachs guitar and music, runs Andesground music label and performs as a soloist or with E.T. duo with Elisabeth Flunger.

His work is inspired by peruvian traditional music and enviroment sounds. He is also interest-ed in the possibilities a musician has to multiply himself. In order to achieve this multiplicity he uses a varied setting of instruments that include D.I.Y. electronics, casette walkmans , AM radios,remote controls,cameras, guitars, samplers,voice, flutes , bells , etc. It is his intention to express concern for contemplation, patience and to establish a close, warm and joyful rela-tion with the sounds that are arround us.

Technical RiderStage

• Wooden dance floor • Stage Size (Optimal) 10m wide, 8m deep, 5m high• Black Dance Carpet – linoleum (8mX10m)• The Stage and the audience should be different on different levels.• The stage should not be heigher than 60cm• A table (1m X 0.8m) and a chair for the musician

Sound

• A pair of strong speakers with subwoofer (stereo)• A pair of monitor speakers• 1 mixing table 8 chanells• 1 simple compressor

Light

• 18 PC 1000W• 6 Profilers 614 Robert Julia 1000W• 1 Lighting console

Set up

• Minimum 8 hours of set-up with one rehearsal• With ligthing technicians and a sound technician

People on tour

• 1 dancer/choreographer• 1 musician• 1 light designer