Dance as a media installation

Performing as part of the “Shift” programme at the Esplanade–Theatres on the Bay’s annual da:ns festival last month, Japanese choreographer Hiroaki Umeda reminded the audience that watching contemporary dance is far more than appreciating the dancers’ physical skills.
In his seminal solo work “Holistic Strata”, which has been seen all over the world, Umeda was so overwhelmingly bathed with “light particles, digital images, video and sonic beats” that at times it appeared that the dancer was moving less than the ever-shifting space. A reminder perhaps that we should always be aware of the things around us, which move much faster than we do, as they have a strong effect on our psyche.
Watching “Holistic Strata” was like experiencing a new media installation in a visual art exhibition, albeit one with a strong human presence. The audience’s aural and visual perception went further than appreciating the coherence of the dancers moving in space in accordance with the music in the hues of lights.
The visual graphics – from the projectors above, in front of, and on both sides of the stage – yielded more light and darkness to the bare white stage than the lighting equipment. The sound design was so unpredictable that it became a pulsating song that not only shook the eardrums but also blew the mind.
Thanks to the support from National Chiang Kai-Shek Cultural Centre, where the work had its world premiere in March, and the Esplanade, Umeda has created a new work “Temporal Pattern” featuring three young dancers with different backgrounds – Taiwanese Cheng Yu-Jung, Indian Hema Sundari Vellelaru and Cambodian Rady Nget.
The work, the first time he’s worked with traditional Asian dancers, is the fourth piece for Umeda’s choreography project “Superkinesis”, which sees him working with dancers from various countries.
The work began in silence on a totally bare white stage and against a white backdrop. The three dancers had a few minutes to perform their respective traditional dance movements, before the soundscape and computer graphics kicked in, or in other words, before Umeda donned his designer and director hats and started to work.
For the next half an hour, the audience witnessed only tiny traces of the attempts by the three dancers to interact with one another through their dance movements. More evident was Umeda’s visual response to his three dancers’ movements in the form of white lines and patterns in many different sizes and angles on a grey background projected onto the stage. Strangely though, this backdrop never overwhelmed the dancers.
Out of the three, Umeda’s visual art seemed to best fit the performing art of Cheng, whose roots in traditional dance are perhaps not as deep as those of the other two. As a result, the work looked and felt like a pan-Asian traditional dance showcase set against a visually engaging background.
But while it was exciting and new, I suspect that some of us were asking “so what?”
“Temporal Pattern” would have been different, perhaps better, had Umeda given the choreographer’s hat to someone with a better understanding of traditional Chinese, Indian and Cambodian dance while choosing the retain only the design work for himself.

 
Japanese Titan
Tomorrow and Saturday, Esplanade and Singapore Repertory Theatre (SRT) co-host the Southeast Asia premiere of Yukio Ninagawa’s “Musashi” as part of “3 Titans of Theatre” series.
It’s in Japanese with English surtitles. Tickets are from SGD 34 (Bt850) to SGD 108 at www.Sistic.com.sg.
For more details, www.3TitansofTheatre.com.
For more information about Umeda, visit www.HiroakiUmeda.com.
The writer wishes to thank the Esplanade’s Gina Koh for all |assistance.