The Dying Swan and Its Cause of Death
There were only two things I did in this production danced by Hana Sakai, a solo dance piece that deconstructs The Dying Swan. Both are very simple. One is to decide on the concept of the work.
More specifically, to make my own choice about what caused the swan in The Dying Swan to die. In the original The Dying Swan, the reason for its death is not explicitly stated. I think this gives the work a lingering and open-ended feeling. It seems like it is required to not mention the cause of its death, to evoke the beauty in its last moments. Therefore, in our version, we aimed to clearly determine the cause of death and to ruin any lingering feelings that come from the work. The second thing I did in this piece was to clarify what the quality of this performance depends on. But I didn’t necessarily come up with something particularly innovative. Rather, it is quite straightforward. Hana Sakai’s body and mind are imbued with the system of ballet, as well as with the work The Dying Swan. I simply decided to make work that relied on this, above all else. I have asked Hana to speak the text I have written as her lines. The text is like a drowsy speech. By voicing this text, Hana’s body will be dragged down from the culmination of her ballet body, no matter what. I created this piece because I wanted to see that happen. But why would I want to do that? I feel as though…. if there is something I can do to contextualize dance in our current society, it is by presenting dance that struggles against the “ordeal” of being dragged down from this high point.
Toshiki Okada
Direction / Choreography: Toshiki Okada
Performance: Hana Sakai
Arrangement / Cello: Udai Shika
Music: Arrangement of “The Swan” in The Carnival of the Animals by Saint-Saëns
Producer: Eri Karatsu (Aichi Prefectural Art Theater / Dance Base Yokohama)
Production Manager: Yoshinori Sekoguchi (Aichi Prefectural Art Theater)
Lighting Design: Masakazu Ito (RYU)
Sound Design: Norimasa Ushikawa
Administrator: Maki Miyakubo (Dance New Air), Nozomi Tanaka (Dance Base Yokohama)
Premiere: October 2021 (Aichi Prefectural Art Theater) *As part of “Genealogy of Dance”
Planned and Produced by Dance Base Yokohama
Co-produced by Dance Base Yokohama and Aichi Prefectural Art Theater
Supported by precog co.,LTD.
＊This work will be performed in succession with "The Dying Swan".
The Dying Swan
Originally by Michael Fokine / Adapted by Hana Sakai
Performance: Hana Sakai
Cello: Udai Shika
Music: “The Swan” in The Carnival of the Animals by Saint-Saëns
Premiere: 1907 (Imperial Mariinsky Theatre [Saint Petersburg, Russia]) or 1905 (Noblemen's Hall)
◆PERFORMANCE
2023 Performing Arts Selection 2023
・September Takatsuki Arts Theatre, Large studio（Osaka）
2022 Performing Arts Selection 2022
・September The Museum of Art, Kochi, Hall（Kochi）
・October Matsumoto Performing Arts Centre, Experimental Theater（Nagano）
・October Alios Iwaki Performing Arts Center, Main Thater（Fukushima）
・October RYUTOPIA Niigata City Performing Arts Center, Theater（Niigata）
・November Kichijoji Theatre（Tokyo）
・November Kumamoto Prefectural Theater, Theater（Kumamoto）
・December Yamaguchi Center for Arts and Media, StudioA（Yamaguchi）
2021 DaBY Performing Arts Selection ／December KAAT Kanagawa Arts Theatre, Large studio（Kanagawa）
2021 TRIAD DANCE PROJECT “Genealogy of Dance” ／October Aichi Prefectural Art Theater, Mini Theater（Aichi）*Premiere
◆REVIEW
Mitsutane Ota（DaBY Performing Arts Selection 2021）
