IndepenDANCE　Japan　Tour'99　Spring (first tour)
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　from　5th.May,to 11th.June,1999
　
K-Ballet IndepenDANCE Japan tour'99 Spring (act 1)

　In Japan，Ｋ‐Ballet Company　which　was　formed by Tetsuya
Kumakawa and other male dancers who left Royal Ballet，performed
their first performances "IndepenDANCE Japan tour'99 Spring"．
(that has started at 5 May and continued until 11 June)
They　performed　20times"the　Stages"at　15　places　in　Japan．
And　I　saw　that　stage　at　Yokosuka（5/5），Tokyo（5/8,9），Kanazawa
（6/5）and　Toyama（6/７）．This　is　the　review　that　Ｉ　felt　to　see　
the　Ｋ-Ballet．There　might　be　gaps　between　the　words　and　the　
stage　itself　and　if　Ｉ　use　a　"word"　carefully，the　meanings　of　the　
word（backgrounds）might　be　a　little　different　from　which　Kumakawa　
and　the　members　mentioned　or　the　readers　imagine．Though　Ｉ　tried　
to　make　my　best　efforts　to　tell　the　stage　for　the　people　who　
couldn't　see,　but　who　could　"imagine"　the　stage　through　ａ　flow　
of　my　limited　words．　　

ACT 1
≪La Vida(Farandole)≫
　　In　the　darkness，the　sound　of　steps　and　handclaps　like　Spanish
dance　could　be　heard．Then　we　could　see　the　silhouette　of　
Ｋumakawa on the　middle　of　screen．He　posed　a　little　bit　like　a　
flamenco　dancer　but　soon　controlled　himself　to　ａ"Ballet　dancer"．
Stopped　the　sound　of　steps，then　the　screen　has　just　opened　at　
the　same　time　with　the　turn　of　his　jump．Behind　him，the　twelve　
female　dancers　were　lined　in　the　black　chic　dresses　and　Kumakawa　
himself　dressed　in　a　Ｗine−Red　coloured　shirts　and　black　tights，
straightened　his　hands　together　to　the　audiences　and　gave　the　sharp
　looking　which　was　never　shirked．Of　course，all　the　members，involved　
the　audiences，had　a　tension　on　the　first　day．But　gradually　the　
members　and　the　audiences　came　to　be　One．With　the　music　of　Bizet
〔'Ｌ'Ａrlesienne　Suite　No．２〕，they　danced　passionately　and　sharply，and　
we　could　have　felt　the　opening　of　this　performance　as　the　opening　
of　brandnew "Ｋ−BALLET　COMPANY"．

≪Pieces of Eight≫
　　This　performance　had　played　in"the　Made　in　London'９８"，the　last　
ｙear'ｓ　performance　by　Tetsuya　Kumakawa．It　was　choreographed　by　
William　Tuckett　and　used　the　music　of　Simon　Jeffes（Music　for　Found　
Harmonium　Paul'ｓ　Dance　Organum：Editions　Penguin　Cafe）．
This　performance　ｗas　very　popular　at　the　Last　Year's　stage　in　Japan
（performed　by　Kumakawa　and　Mara　Galeazzi）and　this　time　was　played　by
　Anna　Tetlow　or　Yukako　Sakakibara　，Matthew　Dibble，William　Trevitt　and　
Michael　Nunn．（Last　year　it　was　so　sorry　that　Nunn　injured　his　toe　
and　he　couldn't　dance　till　the　end　of　the　tour．Fortunately，this　time　
he　could　dance　every　places！）Matthew　played　the　role　like　ａ　teenager
　innocent　boy，and　managed　an　unseen　ball．Then　Anna（or　Yukako）
appeared　in　front　of　him　like　his　sweetheart　before　falling　love．
William　and　Nunn　looked　like　Matthew'ｓ　old　brothers　 or　senior　rivals　
appeared　from　their　back　and　they　danced　together　very　"joyfully"，
competed　with　their　jumping　and　dancing　abilities　step　by　step．
　The　choreograph　was　almost　same，but　the　casting　and　their　fashion
were　different　from　last　year's，so　the　stage　itself　had　rather　different
impression．　
　Anna　were　so　cheerful　that　some　people　said　something　like　American　
impression rather　than　British．Surely　she　had　a　cute，cheerful，healthy，
but　how　come　Ｉ　didn't　know　her　dance　had　ａ　little　bit　heavy
impression　in　Tokyo．（It's　one　opinion　and　image，of　course，it　didn't　
always　mean　that　her　dance　was　not　well．）In　Toyama　she　played　very
good　partnerships　with　Matthew　and　I　could　feel　"the　pure　story"　from
their　dance　more　naturally！
　Yukako　performed　the　girl's　role　very　refreshingly　like　a　early　summer　
wind　or small　white（cabbage　butterfly）and　I　thought　Matthew　would　like　
to　catch　the　girl's　heart　innocently　like　to　catch　ａ　wind　or　butterfly．　
Anna　and　Yukako　gave　me　a　different　impression，but　I　felt　they'd　like　
to　lead　Matthew　to　"the　pure　love　story"　of　early　days．　　
　But　last　year，ｗhen　Kumakawa　and　Galeazzi　performed，there　might　be　
more　"pureness"　and　"transparency"．They（Kumakawa　and　Galeazzi）looked　
like　to　be　dancing　on　wide　green　grasslands　or　golden　wheat　fields．
The　stage　itself　was　just　a　picture．Though　there　hadn't　been　any　sets，
only　the　black　and　blue　screen，their　white　cotton　costumes　and　a　golden
lighting．
　Maybe　the　concept　itself　wasn't　changed．Matthew　and　Anna　danced　
their　dance，and　also　Yukako　danced　her　dance，so　Ｉ　thought　the　
audiences might　be　able　to　picture　to　themselves　the　various　coloured
"pure　love story" in　each　other's　hearts．


≪The Vary People≫
　This　performance　was　choreographed　by　Simon　Rice　and　partly　be　
altered　by　Kumakawa　as　a　new　style．It　was　so　interesting　that　we　could
have　fun　to　see．From　ａ"closet"，the　various　people　appeared　and　showed
themselves．
　For　example，Gary　and　Stuart　performed　comically　wearing　Elizabeth　collared
clothes and　using　a　handkerchief　as　if　they　were　padding　something．Gary　
shut　the　door　of　the　closet　not　being　aware　of　the　figure　of　Stuart．　　
　Next，Matthew，Stuart　and　Gary　appeared　from　the　"closet"，wearing　a　
black　tie　on　their　white　shirts，black　hats　on　their　heads，and　taking　a　
walking　stick each　other．They　hung　hats　and　sticks　on　the　hat　hanger，
then　on　the　music　of　Bach，slowly　they　lay　down　on　the　floor　on　their
back．They　picked　their　upper　part　of　body　up　and　down．Then　suddenly　
the　pace　of　movement　came　to　be　fast，quickly　they　picked　themselves　
standing　up　and　laying　down　as　fast　as　possible．Ｉt's　ａ　little　funny　but　the
movement　itself　seemed　to　have　some　rhythm　like　ａ　scale　of　Bach．There　
were　a　lift　of　Matthew　lifted　by　Stuart　and　Gary，and　that　was　balanced　
very　well．As　the　music　was　low　down，they　returned　to　the"closet"one　after
another　and　disappeared．
　Then　six　cocks（male　birds）appeared．They　were　wearing　the　mask　of　beak　
of　Birds．　They　amused　us　by　playing　funny　and　comically．（Personally　Ｉ'd　been
eager　to　see　the　dance　that　used　ａ"mask"，so　I　could　more　enjoy　seeing．）
　We　could　have　fun　comfortably　this　part　because　of　the　comical　movements
of　their　characters，sometimes　being　surprised　at　their　"flying　turn"，which
were　of　course　smoothly　and　completely　harmonized．　　
　　And　moreover，wearing　goggles　and　scarves　like　early　pilots，Kumakawa，
Ｔrevitt，Nunn　appeared．They　reminded　me　of　the　people　who　had　a　dream　
to　fly to　the　future，not　only　the　true　pilots　like　Ｗright　bothers，Charles　
Augustus　Ｌindbergh，Saint‐Ｅxｕp'ery（the　author　of　Le　Petit　Prince，Vol　de　Nuit）
etc．，but　also　the　people　who　had　the"Hope"that　dreams　come　true．
　They　were　dancing　and "flying" on　the　stage，spread　their　hands　like　planes'
wings　and　there　were　also　some　lifts．Used　the　clear　blue　lighting　and　smokes　
at　last，"the　space"was　so　expanded　that　we　could　imagine　ａ　free　feeling　of
"flying"　to　the　future．
　At　last，the　five　members　were　appeared　but　we　couldn't　see　the　figure
of"Teddy"（＝Kumakawa）．After　ａ　moment　the　back　screen　was　raised and
"Teddy"riding　the　Red　tricycle　which　had　"the　mark　of　Ferrari"　passed　away　
like　ａ　fastest　wind．（Of　course，the　moment　the　very　comfortable　atmosphere
filled　with　the　hall！）

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