Published:
"Not About Romanian Cinema: POONARC" at Danspace Project
By Suzanne Trouve Feff
Danspace Project will present Yoshiko Chuma and The School of Hard Knocks/ROOT CULTURE in the debut of "Not About Romanian Cinema: POONARC" from June 4 to 13, 2009 as part of its City/Dans series. This next installment in Chuma's ten year project, "A Page Out of Order" (culminating in 2011), features artists of all disciplines from Japan, Romania and the USA. The word "POONARC" in the title is an acronym for "Page Out of Order Not About Romanian Cinema."
Illustration of Yoshiko Chuma by Hidetomo Mita.
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Yoshiko Chuma (
www.yoshikochuma.org) has been a firebrand of New York's downtown dance scene since arriving in 1978. Writing in The New York Times, Gia Kourlas stated last year, "Yoshiko Chuma's art isn't tidy nor is it always logical. She's a rebel at heart."
This production is inspired by Chuma's interest in the cultural scene currently emerging in Romania. It is imagined as a personal and public dialogue with Romania. Since 2007, Chuma has journeyed five times to Romania, meeting filmmakers and actors and visiting and filming locations used in the their movies. Despite its name, this piece uses several clips from recently acclaimed Romanian films. Intercut with still photos and video taken on their locations, the film clips serve as a backdrop to text created by Jake Margolin with the ensemble. Like previous installments of the Page Out of Order series, there is text dealing with cultural identity and language, accentuating similarities by pointing out differences. This colloquy is interrupted by dance, some furious some slow. Solos and duets are staged in and around the seven-foot aluminum cubes which have been an integral part of the Page Out of Order series since its inception.
Yoshiko Chuma and The School of Hard Knocks performed "Not About Romanian Cinema: POONARC" in a developmental workshop production at Kaatsbaan International Dance Center, Tivoli, New York, April 2008. From Left: Ursula Eagly (dancer), Kristine Lee (actor), Marnie Cumings (production manager), Jake Margolin (actor/writer), Nick Vaughan (set/costume designer), Rie Ono (lighting designer). Photo by Yi Zhao.
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Throughout the piece, the cast and creative team sit around a long table running through the center of the space. Inspired by John Cage's "Variations VII," this table is filled with equipment and lit from below. Across the back of the space, there is a long chalk board at which a performer writes continuously. The room has the feel of a working laboratory or something in process.
Film sources that are excerpted for the performance include " Variations VII by John Cage" from the DVD film series "9 Evenings: Theatre & Engineering" (1966), issued by Experiments in Art and Technology (E.A.T.), and excerpts of two Romanian films, "Stuff and Dough" (2001), directed by Cristi Puiu and "12:08 East of Bucharest" (2006), directed by Corneliu Porumboiu. Distillations of the films are woven into the performance; this has been a vital component of Chuma's ongoing "Page Out of Order" series.
A vocal and music score is composed and performed by Koichi Makagimi (Japan) with singer and co-composer Sizzle Otaka (Japan). With support from Romanian Cultural Institute NY, four Romanian artists are taking part in this project: performer/writer Theo Herghelegiu, dancers Andreea Duţă and István Téglás and actor Sorin Calotă. The performance project includes interviews with a variety of Romanian filmmakers and artists.
Dancer, Ursula Eagly. Photo by Ayumi Sakamoto.
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From April 20 to May 12, the company will be in residence at the Arad Fun International Underground Festival in Western Transylvania and will perform as the opening act of the Festival (www.culturaarad.ro/aradfun). The company will tour throughout Romania May 16 to 25, prior to the NY performances.
Additional developmental workshops have taken place in November, 2008 at Morishita Studio, Japan, with support from Saison Foundation; and from March 30 to April 5, 2008 at Kaatsbaan International Dance Center, Tivoli, New York (www.kaatsbaan.org).
The ten-person performing company will be: Yoshiko Chuma, Andreea Duţă, Ursula Eagly, Jake Margolin, Theo Herghelegiu, Kristine Lee, Sorin Calotă, István Téglás, Sizzle Ohtaka and Koichi Makigami.
The choreography, direction and multiple screen concept are by Yoshiko Chuma. Lighting design is by Rie Ono. Set and costumes are by Nick Vaughan. Composition, music and songs are by Sizzle Ohtaka and Koichi Makigami. Sound design is by Jacob Burckhardt and Soichiro Migita.
"Not About Romanian Cinema: POONARC" co-producers are Casa de Cultură of the City of Arad (Romania); GroundFloor Group (Romania), Danspace Project (USA), ROOT CULTURE (Japan) and GOH Productions (USA).
L-R: Ursula Eagly, Jake Margolin (on floor), Kristine Lee. Photo by Ayumi Sakamoto.
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The creation of "Not About Romanian Cinema: POONARC" was made possible in part by the Danspace Project 2008-2009 Commissioning Initiative, with support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. "Not About Romanian Cinema: POONARC" was created, in part, while in residence at Kaatsbaan International Dance Center in partnership with Danspace Project's Danspace@Kaatsbaan Creative Residency Program and is supported by the New York State DanceForce with funding from the New York State Council on the Arts Dance Program. Touring to Romania is supported by Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation through USArtists International with support from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and the Trust for Mutual Understanding. Participation of Romanian artists to the USA is supported by Romanian Cultural Institute. The music for "Not About Romanian Cinema: POONARC" was commissioned by the American Music Center Live Music for Dance Program.
Performances are June 4 to 13, 2009 at St. Mark's Church, 131 East 10th Street (at 2nd Ave.) Manhattan. Performances are Thursdays through Saturdays; the pre-show begins at 8:00 PM and the performance starts at 8:30 PM. Tickets are $18.00 ($12.00 for members). For tickets call (866) 811-4111 or visit www.danspaceproject.org. The show runs 97 minutes.
Tags: Dance, film, Romania, Japan
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