Hop, Lock, Spin: Learning the moves from Kentaro!!

Kentaro!!

It was an ideal Sunday morning for all hip hop buffs -  three groovy hours of non-stop learning the moves from Kentaro!! in a dance workshop at Japan Foundation. The music seeped into everyone's bones and the moves that Kentaro!! taught thrilled the dance lovers who learnt each step with diligence and performed it with passion. 

After the participants of the workshop had learnt a short routine Kentaro!! did a demonstration that displayed his immense command over locking and popping moves. His audience cheered for him and marveled at his fluid movements.

In a question-answer round that followed, the participants asked him questions such as what part of his dancing comes from his training and which bits come naturally to him. To this question, Kentaro!! responded saying, "I started from training but invented my own unique style of performance gradually." Another curious student wanted to know how the hip hop dancer first got interested in dance. "I used to love watching and copying Michael Jackson and Madonna in elementary school- my introduction to dancing," replied Kentaro!!

The participants thanked Kentaro!! for his tutorial in hip-hop and clicked pictures with him. Merril, a participant said she had learnt salsa and said she liked to watch contemporary dance. She said it was tough to memorize the steps that Kentaro!! taught, at first, but it eased out gradually and was a very interesting experience all in all. Rajan Rathod who is a be-boying instructor found Kentaro's style to be different from his own style. Rajan considers Kentaro's style a lot more lyrical and soft that his own style which contains more aggressive dancing. Kentaro!! himself was pleased with his students' dedication and seriousness towards learning the dance. 

Enamored by Kenatro's suave moves and having spent a perfect Sunday morning, the participants walked with a "hop" in their step.

Yasuzo Masumura Retrospective

It's time to retrospect over, relish and revisit the great Japanese filmmaker Yasuzo Masumura. Japan Foundation brings to Delhi the varied oeuvre of the filmmaker starting 19th of March 2012.

Yasuzo Masumura (1924-1986) studied under Federico Fellini and Luchino Visconti on a study abroad program in Italy before working as assistant director for Kenji Mizoguchi and Kon Ichikawa after returning to Japan. He directed his first film in 1957. He gave rise to new Japanese cinema through modern, daring direction and has left us with a number of works, including some that look at life and death and some that entertain.

The inaugural film, Giants and Toys will be screened at India International Centre, New Delhi, at 6.30pm. The screening of the film will be followed by a talk by Japanese critic, Kenichi Okubo.

The event, from 19th to 26th, held over three venues (India Habitat Centre, India International Centre and Japan Foundation), includes the screening of 18 of Masumura's most representative films, such as The Kiss, Warm Current, Giants and Toys, Dr. Hanaoka's Wife, and Hoodlum Soldie

Interview with Kentaro!!

Kentaro!!

When did you start dancing?
At the age of 13. I grew up watching Michael Jackson and Madonna during my high school days who were my major inspiration then.

You combine lots of styles in your dance. What style do you identify with most?
Hiphop. At 23 I started choreographing my own pieces. I didn't have any formal training in jazz or contemporary but everything became a part of my dance vocabulary from my experience in watching.

How are hip hop and contemporary dance received in Japan?
Very few people watch contemporary dance in Japan. Hip-hop, however, is very popular among youngsters who usually perform and learn it in dance studios. There are hardly any street performances of hip hop. There are many night club street dance competitions in Japan. I used to participate in hip hop dance competitions in the night clubs before I started choreographing in a serious way.

You are a dancer who also sings. What is the recurring theme, if any, in your songs?
My songs are very depressing. Mostly all of them being about a broken heart.

Do you see any influences of Japanese traditional performance forms in your dance?
No, I do not see any influences of Kabuki or Noh in my dance.

Who would you say has been your greatest influence or inspiration?
The German dancer and choreographer, Pina Bausch whose work inspired me to produce something of my own.

Kentaro Dance Workshop

Kentaro!!

This is your opportunity to learn how to groove from the Japanese hip hop dancer Kentaro!!

The details are as follows:

Date: Sunday, 18 March 2012
Time: 10am to 2pm
Venue: The Japan Foundation, Basement Gallery, 5-A, Ring Road, Lajpat Nagar IV, New Delhi-24
Workshop Contribution: Rs. 500

Dance Exclamation: A Review of Kentaro's performance

Born in 1980, Kentaro!! is one of the most promising young contemporary dancers in Japan. Deeply impressed by street dance culture as a child, he then discovered contemporary dance and its improvisational aspects. He started to work on pieces combining street dance techniques and dramatic elements of contemporary dance. His performances are lyrical, reflecting the experiences of young people living in modern Japanese society.

Kentaro!! in After Rain it Will be Sunny at the Chinmaya Mission, New Delhi, on the 16th of March, performed hope post the tragedy of the earthquake in Japan. His swift and lucid movements set an optimistic tone for the future that will bring about brightness and joy even though the mood be gray and melancholic now. 

He adopts a fused style of  hip-hop and  contemporary that combine everyday movement and emotions. Kentaro's expression has a very personal and sensitive tone, which resonates among the audience with his own story lines and self-composed music. His music is all self-composed and he breaks the performance into two to sing a song of a broken heart. In his free-flowing and unstylized performance Kentaro!! articulates anger, joy and fatigue with performing a repetitive motion. 

The performance itself keep changing hue and texture and Kentaro!! added an interactive moment with the audience when he spoke to the audience directly like a singer in a live performance would. He touches the audience with his simplicity and directness and practices a complete absence of pretense in his performance and his attitude.

KENTARO!!

Japanese Contemporary dancer, KENTARO!! is coming to India.


About the artist:

Kentaro!! mixes hip-hop with a sort of Japanese spirituality. He adapts rap motifs and moves into the dance without ever losing sight of who he is. Very acute musically, with faultless technique, he projects his body into the mix. Electro, pop rock, hip-hop, he doesn’t simply use the beats as a canvas; his moves are extreme and penetrate the music like a needle on the record.

Performance date, time and venue:
March 16, 2012 (Chinmaya Mission, New Delhi), 7pm
March 20, 2012 (National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai), 7pm
March 24, 2012 (Attakkalari Studio, Bangalore), 6pm

Interview with Yoshitake Takada

Yoshitake Takada is the representative director of Light up Nippon. A post graduate in Marine mammology from the university of Tokyo, Takada works in an ad firm in Japan. 

He founded the Light up Nippon project following the Great East Japan earthquake. In August 2011, he organized simultaneous display of fireworks at 11 different earthquake stricken places in the Tohoku region. As the people of Japan started at the illuminated sky they together prayed for the deceased. 

What was the idea and motivation behind this project?

I work for an ad company in Tokyo. I was looking for some way to contribute to the restoration and recovery from the tsunami in 2011. Food, clothing and money was contributed by all. I heard of the news of the cancellation of the biggest fireworks in Tokyo. I thought I must do something for these fireworks to get to Tohoku- to act as a requiem for the deceased.  Japan has a long history of fireworks being organized as a memorial for the dead. I decided to continue with that tradition.

What was the reaction of the affected community in Tohoku to these fireworks?

Thousands of people came together to watch these fireworks. Children were happy and some adults cried thinking of the dead. In the moment they stood and stared at the sky, thinking of the dead, their minds become one.

What was the biggest challenge for you to accomplish this arduous task?

Getting the finances is the only problem. Local people want to continue and contribute to this project. In a few years Light up Nippon might be a project that the local people are able to organize on their own.

What are the plans for the first anniversary of the disaster?

This year we will be able to plough more contributions because of the first anniversary aspect. We plan to introduce musical events to entertain the people and get more sponsors.

Lastly, what made you come to India to talk about Light up Nippon?

Japan Foundation was one of our main sponsors and coming to India has connected Japanese living in Japan as well as Indian who empathize with the Japanese tragedy with the Japanese living in Japan. The meaning of fireworks in Japan is a requiem or tribute to the dead. It is very different in India where fireworks are associated with happy celebrations. I hope the context of the project is understood in India.