Contemporary dance / Romania – Japan / 2013-2015
residencies / co-productions / performances workshops / lectures / artist talks
Eastern Connection is a Romanian – Japanese collaboration project in the field of contemporary dance, developed between 2013-2015, gathering artists, producers, programmers and dance writers, initiated by Romanian choreographer Cosmin Manolescu. The project represents the first cooperation platform in the field of dance between Romania and Japan and aims at facilitating and stimulating the connection between contemporary dance communities from the two countries. The project is led by Gabriela Tudor Foundation in Bucharest in partnership with Aoyama Theatre / Aoyama Round Theatre, Tokyo. Associate partners are Temps d’Images Festival in Cluj organised by Collectiv A Association and Kinosaki International Arts Centre.
> Eastern Connection artistic collaboration
Choreographers Cosmin Manolescu and Zan Yamashita, as main project artists, together with performer Mihaela Dancs and dance critic Takao Norikoshi as associate artists, will work in a group research format dedicated to the development of the collaboration project started in Bucharest in September 2013. Working periods: autumn 2014 (Tokyo), autum 2015 (Japan & Romania). Premiere in 2015 in Romania.
The 2014 residency takes place between August 16 – September 18 in Kinosaki and Tokyo and includes:
> artist talks in Kinosaki (August 17) and Tokyo (September 13);
> work in progress presentations on September 16 and 17 at Morishita studio in Tokyo.
The events in Tokyo are presented in partnership with Aoyama Theatre in the frame of the Dance New Air festival.
The collaboration work will start from and bring further two themes that came out and were central to the initial artistic research residency in Romania. The first would be the issue of communication and mis-communication between two very different civilizations that try to find a way to make themselves understood. Participating artists also share the belief that artistic work is strongly connected to the issues at stake in the societies they live in, therefore the second theme would look at several political and social aspects brought about by two sites that are similar to some extent – Rosia Montana mining project in Romania and Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan. Connected events to the working periods in Japan and Romania are workshops and artists talks.
> Presentation of performances & Eastern Connection showcase
The co-production will be premiered in Romania in 2015. GT Foundation also intends to present the work of a Zan Yamashita in Romania, in connection with other Eastern Connection activities in 2015.
A dedicated Eastern Connection showcase will be organised in Bucharest, including performances, artist talks and video presentations, concluding the project in November 2015.
> Documentation archive
Along the project duration a mobile archive of Romanian and Japanese contemporary dance performances, information and documentation materials will be gathered in order to be available to those interested in both countries. The Eastern Connection documentation itself will be basis of this archive, through a series of interviews, articles, blog posts and booklet published in 2015.
Watch the video documentation of the first phase of Eastern Connection in Romania.
Eastern Connection – a short movie of the pilot phase from Fundatia Gabriela Tudor on Vimeo.
To learn more about Eastern Connection activities click the right side dedicated category from the home page of this blog (Romanian and English news).
SUPPORT
Eastern Connection is developed with support from the Saison Foundation, Tokyo. (2013/2014)
Cultural project funded by the Administration of the National Cultural Fund. (2013)
The Japan residency 2014 benefits from the support of the Romanian Cultural Institute in Bucharest.
Special thanks to the Embassy of Romania in Tokyo.
Eastern Connection is a project by Gabriela Tudor Foundation, Bucharest
Contact: Cosmin Manolescu, executive director / Stefania Ferchedau, project manager
Email: serial.paradise@artsf.ro, + 40 740 300 124
ZonaD 