CalPerformances presents Kodo performing One Earth Tour: Mystery
2015-02-01
Zellerbach Hall Auditorium
U.C. Berkeley, Bancroft Way at Telegraph Ave, Berkeley, CA
7:00 PM, Sunday, February 1, 2015

Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2015 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2015 event list! ☸ On to the next event!

[7:05 PM lights down, announcements]

1. [7:06 PM] Jamai (Traditional, arr. Kodo)
2. [7:12 PM] Yomichi (Tsuyoshi Maeda, 2013)
3. [7:14 PM] Wall (Yosuke Oda, 2013)
4. [7:17 PM] Ajara (Mitsuru Ishizuka, 2006)
5. [7:21 PM] Ake no Myojo (Yosuke Oda, 2012)
6. [7:29 PM] Harewataru (Eri Uchida, 2013)
7. [7:30 PM] Namahage (arr. Kodo, featuring Yomichi by Tsuyoshi Maeda, 2013)
8. [7:36 PM] Mute (Yosuke Oda, 2013)
9. [7:38 PM] Kusa-wake (Yuta Sumiyoshi, 2013)
10. [7:50 PM] Kei Kei (Yuta Sumiyoshi, 2012)
    [set ends 7:55 PM]

1. [8:15 PM] Chit Chat (Eri Uchida, 2013)
2. [8:20 PM] Shishimai (arr. by Kodo, featuring Lion by Leonard Eto, 1990)
3. [8:25 PM] Yuyami (Yuta Sumiyoshi, 2013)
4. [8:32 PM] Color (Masayuki Sakamoto, 2009)
5. [8:35 PM] Miyake (Traditional, arr. Kodo, based on Kamitsuki Mikoshi Taiko from Miyake Island, Tokyo)
6. [8:40 PM] Yatai-bayashi (Traditional, arr. Kodo, based on Chichibu Yatai-bayashi of Chichibu, Saitama)
7. [8:44 PM] Jamai (Traditional, arr. Kodo, based on Iwami Kagura from Iwame Region, Shimane)
8. [8:52 PM] Hekireki (Masayuki Sakamoto, 2013)
   [set ends 9:04 PM]
    
   Encore
9. [9:05 PM] ? (Finale)
   [show ends 9:09 PM]

• Akiko Ando
• Tetsumi Hanaoka
• Jun Jidai
• Shunichiro Kamiya
• Shogo Komatsuzaki
• Yosuke Kusa
• Koki Miura
• Tomoe Miura
• Mariko Omi
• Masayuki Sakamoto
• Yuta Sumiyoshi
• Ryoma Tsurumi
• Eri Uchida
• Kosuke Urushikubo
• Kengo Watanabe

• Tamasaburo Bando: artistic director;
• Kazumi Boy: choreography;
• Martin Lechner: technical director;
• Kenichi Mashiko: lighting director;
• Tomohiro Mitome: leader;
• Yosuke Oda: assistant artistic director.

Quiet night in Berkeley – no doubt most folks watching the conclusion of the Superbowl – means its an easy, low stress trip. Parking appeared as if waiting for us, then we strolled down to Zellerbach and in to our seats with about ten minutes of slack. Poi-fect!

First scene of the show was definitely an attention-grabber: 3 giant snake-dancers twisting and writhing about. Good for the visuals, if not all that snake-like in the dancing. This lack was exposed further when the snakes reappeared in the second set for a different number. Some of the choreography was interesting enough for exploring cool geometric patterns, but for the most part, it seemed more like four guys dancing within long flexible duct hoses than giant serpents. Maybe the group should have hired some training consultants, like the folks from Momix, or Robert LePage, or even an engineering oriented scientist-puppeteer, who could advise them how to modify their costumes and/or movement in order to bring up their game. It wasn't quite embarrassing, but it also fell short of the bar I expect for professional performance.

The second scene was also mysterious: drumming dancers traipsed slowly across the stage, lit dimly by traditional paper lanterns suspended in front of and above their faces while deep blue pools of light illuminated their feet. Turns out the lanterns were attached to arched supports coming from backpacks that each one wore, while the blue light came from gel filters on powerful, battery-powered lights they held in front of them. In the subsequent scene, these hand-held lights were used to good effect with red filters, and also as unfiltered white spots, shone on other drummers. Quite interesting! Good work on the part of the lighting design and tech teams!

A couple scenes later there was a fun sequence where three maidens propriated three angry goblins with giant bowls of sake. Accepting the offering, the goblins then performed an amusing drunken dance before staggering offstage.

So by this time, you're probably wondering, “hey, that sounds great, but what about the drumming?” To which I say, it appears that with the change from the old guard to the new, Kodo is moving in a more theatrical direction, which necessarily entails diminution of the percussion part of the performance pie. Only time will tell if this is a good move, or even a permanent change as opposed to one that captures the spirit of this particular show, Mystery.

I appreciate that the group is stretching their boundaries a bit, and there was still plenty of amazing drumming, though they traded the traditional white loincloth for spangly showbiz tights. You could almost hear the disappointed murmurs after the show: where's the beef?

Anyways, I felt that I got my money's worth, and I expect I'll see them again on some future tour, if only to check in and find out whether they stick with this new direction.

PS: As usual, my timing is suspect – I ended up with more timestamps than programmed sections, so I guess and omitted a few of the timestamps, supposing that they stuck exactly with the published setlist. Now that I stop to think, the more likely reason for this discrepancy is the insertion of transitional movements in the performance, as I recall several such short sequences. Ah well, gonna leave things as they stand – not entirely trustworthy!

Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2015 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2015 event list! ☸ On to the next event!