Manga and chopsticks await you at l'Usine C
5th of October 2013
Article about the show Running Sushi of Liquid Loft presented by l'Usine C.
- Oliver Koomsatira
Photo Credits : Chris Haring - Stephanie Cumming
Japanese culture has found a way to influence and inspire the lives North Americans for some time now. Think Japanime, Pokemon, Dragon Balls, The Last Samurai, Geisha, sushi! Hm… sushi. Well, in the case of choreographer Chris Haring from the company Liquid Loft, the Japanese way has even inspired the show Running Sushi which will be presented this week at l'Usine C the 8th to the 10th at 8pm. Dance News Montreal had the opportunity to exchange with the creator to learn more. First, how did the company come together? "Liquid Loft was founded by Chris Haring (choreographer), Stephanie Cumming (dancer), Andreas Berger (electronic musician) and Thomas Jelinek (dramaturg). After a while of working together we found out in 2004 that we like to work in this constellation, so we gave it a name. For every new show or series of performances or installation or movie we invite different dancers/performers to work with us."
When learning about their piece, one of the interesting aspects of it is the audience gets to choose in which order it will unfold. The choreographer tells us more about the interaction that takes place with the audience: "I think interactivity is exploited a lot in dance, at least in Europe. As a choreographer of course I like to involve the audience in the performance and try to bring the work closer to the people. In case of Running Sushi, interactivity just happens in the beginning of the show when the audience chooses the course of the show by picking up sushi pieces which are related to the scenes of the performance. The order how they take the single sushi piece is also the order of how the show will be performed on this evening." Which means, when you think about it, the show has the very strong probability of being radically different every single night! Now that's a refreshing twist for the audience and the performers, don't you think?
What can the audience expect by coming to see the Austrian company? "This performance is very much influenced by japanese manga culture and the superflat theory by Takashi Murakami. It resembles the image sequence of a Manga figure, trying to re-animate its private idyll, which has become senseless, in order to write a possible storyboard for a future existence on-screen." If you know and like the world of Manga, you might be able to understand many of the evening's references. If not, perhaps this show will awaken your appetite for it or sushi… hm… sushi. Did the company have the Dragon Balls to present a European take on Japanese culture in… Japan? As a matter of fact, they did: "3 Years ago we performed Running Sushi in the museum of art in Kochi (Japan). We were a bit worried that the japanese audience thinks we are making fun of them, but against our concerns they understood very well that the piece is full of irony and shows of how we middle Europeans understand and often misinterpret their culture. The problem of showing this performance there was more the nudity in some scenes and that we play with chopsticks on stage." Now you know what you ought not to do if you don't want to offend Nipponese folks on your next trip to the land of the rising sun: Don't walk around naked fooling around with chopsticks! As matter of fact, you might want to not try this anywhere other than in a contemporary dance show…
So, what's up next for this young and dynamic company after l'Usine C? "Montreal is the second stop of a Canada tour which started in Halifax and will continue to go to Calgary and Vancouver. After coming home to Austria in November, Liquid Loft has the premiere of a new piece beginning of December in Tanzquartier Vienna. It is the third part of a collaboration with french artist Michel Blazy called "the perfect garden" series. This performance series deals with the idea of artificial paradises such as the garden of earthly delights from Hieronymus Bosch or the 1914 written french novel Locus Solus from Raymond Russel." Who knows, perhaps Montrealers will have the opportunity of catching this piece soon. For more info about the show, visit the website of l'Usine C.
http://www.usine-c.com/programmation/running-sushi/
When learning about their piece, one of the interesting aspects of it is the audience gets to choose in which order it will unfold. The choreographer tells us more about the interaction that takes place with the audience: "I think interactivity is exploited a lot in dance, at least in Europe. As a choreographer of course I like to involve the audience in the performance and try to bring the work closer to the people. In case of Running Sushi, interactivity just happens in the beginning of the show when the audience chooses the course of the show by picking up sushi pieces which are related to the scenes of the performance. The order how they take the single sushi piece is also the order of how the show will be performed on this evening." Which means, when you think about it, the show has the very strong probability of being radically different every single night! Now that's a refreshing twist for the audience and the performers, don't you think?
What can the audience expect by coming to see the Austrian company? "This performance is very much influenced by japanese manga culture and the superflat theory by Takashi Murakami. It resembles the image sequence of a Manga figure, trying to re-animate its private idyll, which has become senseless, in order to write a possible storyboard for a future existence on-screen." If you know and like the world of Manga, you might be able to understand many of the evening's references. If not, perhaps this show will awaken your appetite for it or sushi… hm… sushi. Did the company have the Dragon Balls to present a European take on Japanese culture in… Japan? As a matter of fact, they did: "3 Years ago we performed Running Sushi in the museum of art in Kochi (Japan). We were a bit worried that the japanese audience thinks we are making fun of them, but against our concerns they understood very well that the piece is full of irony and shows of how we middle Europeans understand and often misinterpret their culture. The problem of showing this performance there was more the nudity in some scenes and that we play with chopsticks on stage." Now you know what you ought not to do if you don't want to offend Nipponese folks on your next trip to the land of the rising sun: Don't walk around naked fooling around with chopsticks! As matter of fact, you might want to not try this anywhere other than in a contemporary dance show…
So, what's up next for this young and dynamic company after l'Usine C? "Montreal is the second stop of a Canada tour which started in Halifax and will continue to go to Calgary and Vancouver. After coming home to Austria in November, Liquid Loft has the premiere of a new piece beginning of December in Tanzquartier Vienna. It is the third part of a collaboration with french artist Michel Blazy called "the perfect garden" series. This performance series deals with the idea of artificial paradises such as the garden of earthly delights from Hieronymus Bosch or the 1914 written french novel Locus Solus from Raymond Russel." Who knows, perhaps Montrealers will have the opportunity of catching this piece soon. For more info about the show, visit the website of l'Usine C.
http://www.usine-c.com/programmation/running-sushi/
