Activity Report #7 of “Danstereportation

Interview with Aiho Kaneko
(Interviewer: Kota Yamazaki)

Kota Yamazaki’s new project “Dance Teleportation,” based on the concept of “dialogue,” is underway.
Ms. Yamazaki and 11 performers are literally groping their way through the creative process under the new coronavirus epidemic.

Basically, a choreographer and a dancer create a work by sharing a place and time. Now that this is no longer possible, how can a choreographer establish a relationship with a dancer to create a work? We have named this challenge “Dance Teleportation” in the sense of exploring a way of dancing that transcends place and time.”
(Excerpted from Kota Yamazaki’s “Dance Teleportation” statement)

The creation process begins with Ms. Yamazaki interviewing each performer via videoconference. Next, Ms. Yamazaki sends the performers words inspired by the interviews. The performers then respond to Ms. Yamazaki by using the words as the starting point for their creations.

In this issue, we present an interview with Aiho Kaneko.
I was impressed by his candid words about his activities as a photographer, his children, and how he felt during his life of self-restraint.
(Text and editing by Taku Yoshida)

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How did you come to dance, Kaneko-san?

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I originally danced classical ballet and discovered contemporary dance in college. I used to create solo and group dance pieces until a few years ago, but not recently. After being active, I realized that I am the type of person who prefers to approach a piece from the hints and goals presented by the choreographer rather than to create a piece from scratch.

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You also work as a photographer. What inspired you to take up photography?

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When I was in high school, I became interested in photography when I modeled for a photography class assignment. I enjoyed taking pictures, but I felt that I wanted to do more taking pictures than being photographed. So when I entered college, I bought a single-lens reflex camera. There were many dancers around me at the university, so I was blessed with a lot of subjects, and I feel like I was well-trained. After graduation, I continued to photograph the works of friends and choreographers I knew, and that led me to my work as a photographer.

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I am currently doing research for a class I will be teaching next semester at the university titled “Non-Stop Moving,” which will focus on dance in daily life. Since you work as a photographer and have a small child, I have the impression that your daily life and dance are connected to each other. When do you feel dance in your daily life?

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Children are like animals and I think they are dancing. The other day, my child didn’t want to stand up because he didn’t want to put his feet on the ground. When I saw that, I was envious that I had forgotten such real physical sensations.
What I think about the relationship between life and dance is that I am someone who is rather determined to dance and wants to dance. Of course, I believe that there is dance in my life as well. I have photography, dance, and life, and if I don’t consciously separate them, they will all end up halfway in the middle.

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I think that is true too. I too have done almost nothing since I lost my choreography job (laughs). People don’t take action unless they have a trigger or a task.
Please tell us how you are feeling in the situation of having to live in self-restraint and not being able to perform at the theater.

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I do believe that I can dance even if the theaters close and there is no longer a place to see or do dance. However, dance-related videos distributed on the Internet do not ring a bell for me.
In terms of life, I think that since I have so much time, I should take drastic action, but I have been unable to. I could do some cleaning or cooking that I don’t normally do, but I am still not accomplishing anything. Maybe I just want the period of restraint to be over. I know it won’t be the same as before, but I want to work and dance again as before. Maybe I haven’t accepted the situation yet.

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How do you envision a post-corona society?

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It will be difficult to get back to normal, and even if it does, it will take a very long time. In my case, for the time being, I have to think about what I will do with my work as a photographer rather than dancing. Without performances, I will not be able to work on stage photography, and I have been taking commemorative photos for the Shichi-Go-San and other events, but I need to think about how to shoot them, such as the distance between the subject and the photographer. I may take pictures of people from a distance, as I do with landscapes, and this may change my fundamental view of photography.

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How is your dancing?

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You may feel compelled to do dance the way you did before. But it can be fun to try new ways of doing things. The other day on “Radio Momoharago,” a radio program distributed by Momoko Shirakami and Saori Hara, they talked about the idea of having dancers and audience members perform facing each other across the Tama River. That idea never occurred to me, but it sounds interesting and something I would like to do. So I think it would be good to watch how things go for a while. I want to see what new things come up and participate. Most of all, I’m afraid of losing the dance.

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I don’t think I will disappear. However, the way of thinking may change. I live in a rural area in the U.S., and the impact within my living area is not so great, so it hasn’t changed that much yet.

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What kind of place does Kota-san live in?

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There is a lake nearby and I fish there every day. Today I saw a deer in the distance (laughs).

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I would love to live in a place like that (laughs). I envy you in terms of photography.

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In my college class, we meditate first, and when students come in late, a chime goes off with a “pop”. Some come in while talking on the phone with their families. I have found it amusing to see students come in like that during a quiet class, “Here they are meditating, and there they are going about their daily lives.” I have found it interesting. In the same way, when I look at Kaneko-san and myself through the screen, I don’t feel a big difference between our situations, but I can imagine that they are actually quite different. And I think that by mutually recognizing these differences, new expressions will be born.
Here, as I have done in previous interviews, let me do a little experiment. I want you to touch the inside of your elbow with your finger and tell me in words what comes to mind the moment you let go. I look at the scene and search for words. You may associate it with the first word that comes to mind.

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The first was “balloon,” and then “roof,” “futon,” and “slope” came to mind.

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Strangely enough, “balloon,” “futon,” and “hill” are words that have also come to mind for me in previous interviews. What came to my mind when I saw it now was “three ants walking in a field of spinach.

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I have never seen a spinach field. Is there any?

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I don’t have one either (laughs). But I had some kind of idyllic image in mind.
By the way, video calls often involve talking face to face, but if one of you turns to the side, doesn’t that make the person you’re looking at more imaginative? (and turns sideways)

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I feel more comfortable looking at the profile.

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In profile, you don’t know what’s in the eye of the beholder, so the beholder might wonder, “What is he thinking?” I guess the viewer imagines “What is he thinking? Also, just listening to the voice without looking at the screen may feel more realistic.

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That may indeed be true.

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Well, that’s about it for this interview. Thank you very much for your time today. We will send you a spelling out of words.

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Thank you very much.

How was the interview?
Our next report will be an interview with Mai Kubota.
Please continue to enjoy the dialogue between the dancers.

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