Last fall, Philadelphia-based dancer/choreographers Roko Kawai and Leah Stein began collaboration with Tokyo-based movement artist Hideo Arai and vocalist Mika Kimula on a site-specific dancework at Chihan-an, a 200-year-old traditional home located two hours south of Tokyo on the Izu Peninsula. “Site-specific” refers to a work that is created in and for a particular place, connecting with its sights, sounds and stories as a partner to the creative process. In site-specific dance, the audience and performers often travel through the site and become a “part of” rather than “apart from” the performance. This fall, with the addition of Philadelphia-based percussionist Toshi Makihara, these four artists rejoin to further develop and present the first public performance of “IZU HOUSE.” This American and Japanese collaboration explores Chihan-an’s architectural form, the Suganuma family’s oral histories, and the artists’ own personal connection to the space, creating a contemporary event about cultural space and memory.
"This project has been funded by The Pew Center for the Arts and Heritage, through Dance Advance."
© IWASA Eiichiro, Chihan Art Project
