Happiness: Kumagai and Watanabe at Asia Society

Left: Kazunori (Kazu) Kumagai
(photo: Maiko Miyagawa)
Right: Kaoru Watanabe
(photo: Yuki Kokubo)

Bessie-winning tap dancer Kazunori Kumagai (2006) is likely better known to my InfiniteBody readership than is composer-musician Kaoru Watanabe, but these two major artists merged forces last night at Asia Society's First Friday, presented with Japan Foundation. Kumagai (aka Kazu) brought two friends he has partnered with in recent years--Sabrina Clery, an engaging, heartful vocalist, and renowned veteran bassist, Alex Blake. Watanabe, percussionist and flutist, was accompanied by colleagues whose work similarly spans cultures and genres--violinist Mazz Swift and percussionist Satoshi Takeishi.

We were treated to an exemplary performance by Kumagai who, over time, demonstrated finer and finer control of his sounds and speed of delivery. Assured technique, yes, but he also learned, from Black funkmeister mentors, to keep heart and soul in place. And sass, too, like those slices of shoe against wood, so like skate blades marking ice. His inward concentration--pitched forward, drilling the floor, eyes on his work--this time reminded me less of Gregory Hines, with whom he has been compared, than Savion Glover. He appears less interested in looking pretty than sounding awesome, getting results, holding his own with rhythmic powerhouses like Blake (in their dynamic Blue Moses duet) and Watanabe (in the stormy and ecstatic Amazing Grace finale, performed with all hands on deck).

This gig with Watanabe marked Kumagai's (and, likely, tap's) Asia Society debut. A huge audience received it all warmly, and I hope that means we can expect future Watanabe/Kumagai collaborations and return visits.

Asia Society's First Friday is celebrated from 6pm to 9pm on the first Friday of the month with free museum admission, exhibition tours, refreshments, late night shopping at AsiaStore and more. The next will be held on March 2. Asia Society also hosts LGBT Connections Night at Leo Bar each night on third Fridays. For more information on all of these events, click here.

Currently on view at Asia Society:

In Focus: An Assembly of Gods

Through March 25, 2018

An in-depth look at a large Chinese pantheon painting

from the early nineteenth century

Masterpieces from the Asia Society Museum Collection

Through March 25, 2018

A selection of the finest artworks

from the renowned Asia Society Museum Collection

For more information, click here.

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See (and learn) dances of Aceh (Sumatra, Indonesia)

Asia Society

presents

Tari Aceh: Dance from Aceh, Sumatra, Indonesia

Tari Aceh

Saturday, February 28

7pm -- pre-performance lecture

8pm -- performance

info/tickets

Sunday, March 1

11am-1pm -- workshop with dancers of Tari Aceh, 

exploring traditions and hallmarks of Acehnese dance

info/tickets

Aceh (Sumatra, Indonesia) is renowned for its exuberant performances combining text, poetry, dance, and movement with a distinct flavor that reflects local culture as well as a strong Islamic influence. It has been ten years since the devastating tsunami killed over 200,000 people in Aceh. This performance celebrates the resilience of the people and a new generation of young women whose traditions have provided an important part of the healing process.

One of the hallmarks of Acehnese dance is a form of body percussion in which various rhythms are created by slapping the body or clapping. One form — saman — is done in a tight line, shoulder-to-shoulder, becoming almost a singular-being moving at split-second speed. The form is not only entertaining, but also has an educational side which reflects the morals and teachings of the community.

This is a rare opportunity to see an all-female group from Syiah Kuala University, located in Banda Aceh, the capital of the Aceh province on the western Indonesian island of Sumatra.

This program is part of Asia Society's ongoing initiative Creative Voices of Muslim Asia.

Can't make it to this program? Tune in to AsiaSociety.org/Live at 7pm EST for a free live video webcast.

Asia Society
725 Park Avenue (at 70th Street), Manhattan
(map/directions)

Indigenous dance and music of Black Cockatoo at Asia Society

Dancer Albert David of Black Cockatoo Dance Company

Australia's indigenous peoples are a culture so old that it takes us through history but is also current.
These artists are about the present and the future...about what it means to be human and what it means to be on the Earth.

-- Rachel Cooper, Director of Global Performing Arts and Cultural Initiatives, Asia Society

Black Cockatoo Dance Company: Indigenous Australian Song and Dance, presented on Friday night by Asia Society in partnership with Australia's Consulate General, was one of the finest concerts I've seen this season. But that's not all. The personable members of Black Cockatoo also gave us one of the best post-show Q&A sessions of all time--informative and charming in equal measure.

Company founder Sean Choolburra and colleagues Albert David, Smilar Sinak and Vivian Anderson first cleansed the theater's energy with percussive didgeridoo music and chant. They followed this opener with a brisk-paced sample of ceremonial dances and songs from mainland aborigines and people of the Torres Strait islands (which lie between Queensland, Australia and Papua New Guinea). The earliest of the cultures represented here stretches back more than 50,000 years. Indigenous Australians are elders to the world; their artists preserve foundational stories necessary for the cohesion, survival and well-being of their communities. What's thrilling is the blend of seriousness and lightheartedness with which Choolburra and his compatriots carry these stories and discharge their responsibilities to their people and to our shared planet and its precarious future.

These mainland and islander cultures were severely impacted by European encroachment and violence. Choolburra's troupe dedicates itself to seeding the future through their many educational programs and upholding the value of kinship. It's there in every turn of phrase the artists used in the lengthy Q&A. Everyone is brother, auntie; everyone interconnected with land, sea and the abundance of animal life. Infused with this respect and love, many of the ceremonial dances portray animal totems of key importance to clans and individuals--the emu, the kitehawks and sea eagles, each fondly mimicked through characteristic details like the kangaroo's flipping ears and short front legs held close to the breast. Black Cockatoo derives its name from the fabulous totem of Choolburra's clan.

Black Cockatoo pair
(photo by Snowmanradio)

In the sunny mainland dances, the performers strike the floor with lively, articulated feet, almost pawing it, and easily skim about. By contrast, some island dances seem stern and minimalist, but there's subtle, eerie poetry in the Welub Batayrik feather dance and crackling electricity in David's performance of a warrior's bow-and-arrow dance. Hey, bro! Watch where you point that arrow!

New York City got only one night to witness these dedicated artists. I hope Asia Society is already working on ways to bring them back.

For more information about Asia Society's arts programs, click here.

Beate Gordon, 89

Beate Gordon, Long-Unsung Heroine of Japanese Women’s Rights, Dies at 89
by Margalit Fox, The New York Times, January 1, 2013

Post-Sandy: Asia Society helps Staten Island students and families

Dear Members and Friends of the Asia Society,

In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, we hope our greater New York members are safe.  We have been assessing how best to assist those who are still without power, heat or homes.  Thanks to a close and profound connection, we have found the answer.  The College of Staten Island High School for International Studies, or CSI for short, was founded as a partnership between Asia Society's International Studies Schools Network (ISSN) and the New York City Department of Education in 2005.  It’s been a great success, by every measure.  Now the CSI needs our help, in a very different way.

As many of you know, the storm took particularly brutal aim at Staten Island.  While the CSI school did not suffer significant damage, fifteen of its students lost their homes to the storm, and the homes of many more students suffered damage, the loss of utilities and other hardships.  Many families have been displaced from their homes – and it’s not clear when it will be deemed safe to return.

Asia Society’s Brandon Wiley – who has worked with CSI over the years – has been in touch with the school principal and superintendent.  Yesterday the superintendent told Brandon they have received some donations, and she was particularly supportive of our wish to help.  She suggested we work with the school to determine the greatest needs.  So with the help of Asia Society board members, we are setting up a fund for the children and families of the CSI school.  Brandon Wiley will shepherd our efforts to help gauge the most pressing needs in that community.  Asia Society will also contribute to this effort from cost-paring at this week’s awards dinner.

Many Asia Society staffers and trustees have already donated their time and money to help; and some colleagues have suffered the effects of long power outages and gas shortages and the like.  Still, once we arrive at our offices at the Asia Society headquarters – by long walks, or bikes, in car pools or jammed buses - we cannot help but feel the disconnect.  Here we are along an unscathed and never-blacked-out patch of Manhattan; a few miles to the south and east, so many people are suffering.  So we hope our fund will make a difference, for a group of children and their families with whom we already have a great bond.  We ask that members of the Asia Society "family" consider a gift.  All donations will be administered to those who need them most.

A few more words about CSI: In the mold of all ISSN schools, CSI holds to the mission of graduating globally competent and college - and career-ready students.  With approximately 526 students, CSI is one of New York City's top ranked 20 public high schools, and # 1 on Staten Island.  The CSI faculty and staff provide a rigorous and globally-focused learning experience for all who pass through their doors.  Asia Society is a proud partner of CSI, supporting their development and growth since its inception.

Asia Society prides itself on being a global organization, as well as a place of intellectual engagement and an important part of New York’s cultural landscape. We are committed to assisting the local community during this time of need. 

If you wish to contribute, please make checks payable to Asia Society/Hurricane Relief. Checks should be sent to Asia Society/Hurricane Relief at 725 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10021.

As always, we appreciate your support.

With thanks,

Henrietta H. Fore, Co-Chair, Asia Society
Ronnie C. Chan, Co-Chair, Asia Society
Tom Nagorski, Executive Vice President

Asia Society to host Indonesian performance troupes

Nan Jombang Dance Company

As part of its Creative Voices of Muslim Asia initiative, Asia Society will present two innovative performance companies from Indonesia:

Nan Jombang Dance Company (Saturday, October 6, 8pm) will show work that combines the Minangkabau (West Sumatra) traditions of martial arts, dance, folk theater and body percussion. (video clip and tickets)

Papermoon Puppet Theatre's Mwathirika (photo by Indra Wicaksono)

Papermoon Puppet Theatre (Monday, October 1, 8pm) presents Mwathirika--a non-verbal, puppet-theater experience set in 1965, when thousands of Indonesians were jailed and murdered. (video clip and tickets)

Asia Society
725 Park Avenue (at 70th Street), Manhattan
(directions)

Asia Society's Rachel Cooper: From Performer to Producer

The Transition From Performer to Producer
by Rachel Cooper, The New York Times, August 4, 2012

Art critics award best shows of 2011

Art Critics’ Association Announces Awards for Best Shows of 2011
by The New York Times, March 15, 2012

Asia Society to show Ai Weiwei photos

Asia Society Plans Exhibition of Ai Weiwei New York Photos
by Kate Taylor, The New York Times, June 20, 2011

Jogja Hip Hop

Jogja Hip Hop Foundation is the foremost Javanese hip hop group, melding global rhythms and traditional Javanese language into an expression simultaneously local and universal.  The group raps in Javanese--from classical verses to traditional curses, street slang and social protest messages.  Established to reflect diversity and pluralism, they create a new musical language that reaches people across cultures.

See Jogja Hip Hop Foundation at Asia Society, Saturday, May 14, 8pm. Free pre-performance lecture at 7pm.

For more information and ticketing, click here, and also listen to a two-minute excerpt from "Kulonuwun (Romantisme Zaman Underground)" from Jogja's debut album.

Asia Society
725 Park Avenue (at 70th Street), Manhattan
(directions)

Traditional non-Western art: Left in the past?

Under Threat: The Shock of the Old
Non-Western Art History Bypasses the Ancient
by Holland Cotter, The New York Times, April 14, 2011

Scorched earth

You arrive at the Baryshnikov Arts Center and, if there’s a crowd, wait in a line that snakes through the lobby before you’re ushered into an elevator, twelve people at a time. When you reach the 6th floor, you can leave your coat on a rack before entering a very different kind of space created and inhabited by the Japanese-born dance/installation artists Eiko and Koma for the New York premiere of Naked: A Living Installation.

Step past a canvas wall decorated in black feathers and sand adhered to the fabric by sweet rice paste. Like a birder’s observation blind, it has some peep holes you can use to view the scene inside, but you will also find two entrances.

Your first impression on seeing the two nude performers reclining on a mound of scorched straw, feathers and sand, surrounded by a moat of brown earth might be that they look like chicks in a nest, not only pitiably vulnerable but actually dead with flesh resembling stone mounds or dried fish. Just a few feet away, audience observers stand, or sit on the floor or the few benches, in a respectful hush.

Clumps of what appears to be blackened seaweed dangle overhead and, in varying intensities, water drips from above from time to time. The space feels damp, smells of a post-fire forest or sand dune. A far, faint fog horn sounds. Lighting gets alternately stronger or weaker as time passes.

Watching carefully, you notice the bodies’ minute shifts, the way you might take note of the slightest shift of the leaf of a tiny plant on the forest floor as you pass close by. You might see Koma reaching for Eiko, his back muscle's micro-movements eventually carrying him close enough to make contact with Eiko who is very still, eyes sometimes closed, sometimes half-open and glazed.

It might be, in a moment of illumination, you suddenly realize that, with his feet resting against her ankles, and now his fingertips gently touching hers, their bodies form a circle.

Naked: A Living Installation--part of Carnegie Hall’s JapanNYC Festival and presented in partnership with Asia Society and Danspace Project--continues through April 9 in BAC’s Studio 6A, Tuesdays-Fridays 6pm-10pm and Saturdays 3pm-9pm. Admission is free, and you are invited to come any time during open hours and stay as long as you’d like. Reservations are encouraged: Click here. You can bring drawing and writing materials, but photography and videotaping are prohibited. Also, be sure to visit Studio 6B to view examples of Eiko and Koma's media work.

Information

Baryshnikov Arts Center
450 West 37th Street (between 9th and 10th Avenues), Manhattan
(directions)

Tribute to Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi

A Tribute to Iranian Filmmaker Jafar Panahi

February 25-March 11

Asia Society and Museum
725 Park Avenue (at 70th Street), Manhattan

(directions and other visitor information)

Get free tickets online.

This film series highlights the global artistic and social significance of the work of filmmaker Jafar Panahi. Even before he made international headlines for his recent affiliation with the Green Movement in Iran, Panahi was celebrated as one of the most influential cinematic voices. He has received international recognition for his work, garnering the Venice Film Festival's Golden Lion, the Berlin Film Festival's Silver Bear, and the Cannes Film Festival's Camera d'Or awards.

Panahi is known for his realistic and unflinching portrayal of contemporary Iranian life, treating his subjects, often women and people living on the margins of society, with deep humanism. Using non-professional actors to play characters very much like themselves, his films evoke a social urgency. Panahi was recently sentenced to a six-year prison term and a 20-year ban on filmmaking for his association with the Green Movement. The sentence is being appealed.

All films are in Persian with English subtitles.

For complete program, schedule details and free tickets, click here.

Dalrymple: seeking the sacred

Asia Society presents

Nine Lives - In Search of the Sacred in Modern South Asia
Performance, Music and Reading

Friday and Saturday, June 18 and 19 at 7:30pm

Writer and historian William Dalrymple reads from his latest book Nine Lives: In Search of the Sacred in Modern India, interspersed with performances by these notable South Asian performers: Paban Das Baul and the Bauls of Bengal, Shah Jo Raag Fakir, Susheela Raman and Chandu Pannicker Theyyam Dance Group. Followed by a reception.

Information
Tickets

Asia Society
725 Park Avenue (70-71 Streets), Manhattan

Celebrating Balasaraswati

Balasaraswati: Her Art and Life

Asia Society welcomes Douglas Knight, author of Balasaraswati: Her Art and Life

June 24, 6:30-8:30pm

Celebrate the life and legacy of one of India's most infuential artists, Balasaraswati. Watch unseen footage of Balasaraswati's dance and hear from featured speakers, including Asia Society President Vishakha N. Desai, dance critic Anna Kisselgoff, author Douglas Knight, and Balasaraswati's grandson, Aniruddha Knight.

Books available at AsiaStore.org.

Tickets

Asia Society
725 Park Avenue (between 70th and 71st Streets), Manhattan

Erasing Borders--Festival of Indian Dance

Asia Society and the Indo‐American Arts Council present

Erasing Borders - Festival of Indian Dance
Spring 2010

Friday-Sunday, June 4-6

Indian—and India inspired—dance in an array of forms, old and new: Two evening concerts feature performances traditional and experimental, classical and post-modern, highlighting both dramatic and non-narrative dance. Day sessions of panels, workshops, and demonstrations explore aspects of Indian dance across genres.

Complete program details and schedule

Asia Society and Museum
725 Park Avenue (at 70th Street)
New York, NY 10021

Ticketing: 212-517-ASIA or online

Directions

Coming up at Asia Society

Gamelan Dharma Swara: Balinese Music and Dance
Friday, May 21, 8pm
Pre-performance lecture at 7pm

Led by Balinese master performers, New York City's Gamelan Dharma Swara presents a special preview of its 2010 Bali tour repertoire, including the dances Gabor and Kebyar Legong. Dharma Swara is the first non-Balinese ensemble invited to the annual Bali Arts Festival.

Erasing Borders: Festival of Indian Dance
Friday and Saturday, June 5 and 6

Concerts and Workshops co-presented with the Indo-American Arts Council

Performers: Shipra Mehrotra; Navtej Johar; Parul Shah Dance Company; Cynthia Lee; Wanted Ashiqz

Nine Lives - In Search of the Sacred in Modern South Asia
Friday and Saturday, June 18 and 10 at 7:30pm

Featuring: William Dalrymple, Paban Das Baul and the Bauls Of Bengal, Shah Jo Raag Fakir, Susheela Raman and Chandu Pannicker Theyyam Dance Group Followed by a reception.

For more information on these and other programs of Asia Society, click here.
For ticketing, click here.

Asia Society
725 Park Avenue (between 70th & 71st Streets), Manhattan

City fest to celebrate Muslim culture

Festival for New York, That Muslim City
by Felicia R. Lee, The New York Times, June 5, 2009