Thank You for The Light
~~
With light, comes hope.
Dance and music merge with visual arts and projection for this multi-media exploration on the conflict between despair and hope.
Tokidoki-Jido, one of the pioneers of Performance Theatre in Japan, blurs the lines of artistic ownership between creator and audience by involving local volunteer performers in Lightology.
~~
our 3 day workshop aka boot camp just ended yesterday.
we've all been "trained", this week will be real rehearsals.
The collaboration between Jido and the volunteers make no logical sense.
From jido's point of view, they're making lives harder for themselves by including volunteers, and having to train everyone from scratch everytime they hold a performance.
From the volunteer's point of view, you wonder why anyone would want to spend up to 9 hours a day rehearsing for free and no apparant reward.
but what a ride it has been.
my energy level is going lower by the day,
but mentally it's so refreshing,
like i'm living in another world.
felt so weird to go back to work today after 2 days and 3 nights spent at the rehearsal studio.
like i'm there but not really there.
-------------------------------------------
Ask me what Ligthology is about
and i'll say 'i dun know'.
I didn't know before,
and i still don't know!
haha!
but that's the exact reason why i was attracted to the show.
the power of serendipity.
i remember walking past the poster while walking to the esplanade food court with MJ and KL,
the title "Lightology" caught my eye and after reading the poster description,
(i made the guys walk the long way back so i can read the poster!)
i knew immediately i wanted to catch the show no matter what.
one thing led to another and suddenly I'M in the show!
----------------------------------
the group of volunteers are mostly made of young (mostly poly age) pple.
and most have backgrounds in dance or drama or some other performance thing.
in short, we're all young voyeurs.
so there's raw energy,
and there's pure enthusiasm to do anything, especially quirky things.
some of the things that jido made us to,
like make weird noises,
can only come alive with a crowd that is willing and not shy.
initally we were all self conscious and apprehensive,
but after a while it's all hell break loose.
and what a beautiful choir we made out of noise.
yesterday we did our final exercises on it,
and when i think of how we began and how far we've come,
it's just pure genius
the synergy between jido and a group of young pple willing to take on anything.
----------------------------------------
Jido impressed me with their creativity and quirkiness.
some of their ideas are original and they're not afraid to just do it.
and they get it done well too.
the director is a 58 year old guy with pure white hair.
but he catches inspiration so quick,
it's inspiring just to watch him.
the noise excercise thing he made us do borders on split second imagination from each of us.
it's like i make u a random hand gesture and u make the first sound u think of.
in fact, don't even think, just make a sound, the more original the better.
so there's so much creative energy in the air,
i make a gesture thinking of one sound and u make one totally random and out of my expectation.
so it keeps the mind active and excited cos there's so much randomness.
it's magic.
yesterday one of the girls in my group started tap-dancing.
i burst out laughing uncontrollably watching her dance cos none of us expected her to move (we were making noises, not moves..), much less do some cheem cheem tap dance.
it was so funny.
been some time since i laughed so whole-heartedly on impulse.
(no wait, i just did that at KTV with weips last week)
and i think it is this raw energy and creativity that the director loves abt the volunteering segments.
Probably every volunteer session gives him something exciting and new he has not seen before.
the director himself plucks magic from the air.
you can see him thinking for 2 sec abt how to string all the things together,
and then "ta-ta-ta-tatatata" he'll know exactly what he wants the sequence to be.
-----------------------------------
I'm gonna juggle during the pre-show!
yee-ha!
haha.
see the Jido guys saw me juggle so much,
(before rehearsal, i juggle at the underpass and they bump into me while walking from the hotel.
during break, i juggle.
after rehearsal, i juggle at the underpass and they bump into me while walking back to the hotel)
they opened up the pre-show segment to anyone who wants to perform!
so at first the director asked who wants to perform (besides the juggler)
and only one hand shot up, a professional lady dancer.
as usual, everyone was shy abt performing solo and someone asked for time to think abt it.
"ok", the director said," let's do this. After rehearsal, those who want to perform, stay and leave your name"
so, so far they only have 2 items for a 20 minute slot.
after the rehearsal, suddenly more and more pple came to sign up.
it really was a pleasant surprise cos the typical reaction is pple are shy to perform.
but what can i say, we're all voyeurs.
even more inspiring and surprising is how they merge talents so easily.
one chinese sitar player tag-teamed with an indian and they're performing together.
a pair of sweet pretty eurasian twins are going to sing.
a guy and a girl who only just got to know each other are gonna sing a duet.
2 dancers also came together to collaborate.
there's lindy hop.
(there're also lots of drama pple and 2 magicians but they're not performing. also at least one film-maker, 2 photographers and an architect-turned-magazine-columnist.)
it's amazing how diverse and talented the group is.
very gung ho.
during breaks,
there might be a group formed somewhere trying to learn indian dance,
or i might be holding a 3 ball workshop,
or someone will be teaching dance.
it's a bubble world!
---------------------------------------------
"Lightology is a multi-disciplinary work that attempts, in unusual ways, to transform human despair and sorrow into hope and pleasure. "
even though the show defies categorization,
(it's dance, multimedia, special effects, a rock concert, drama, experimental...)
the philosophy and core of the lightology project is clear.
"we want to harness all the happiness of the pple present to help pple out there who are in despair."
it's a little like Zen/buddhism,
where you mediatate and concentrate on generating positive energy and then dedicate it to anyone out there who is suffering.
and i think all the events, no matter how weird they are, revolve around that theme.
of happiness and light overcoming darkness and despair.
isn't it so wow?
------------------------------------------
we keep bumping into the perplexed cast of West Side Story backstage.
they'd stare at the never-ending line of young boys and girls and inevitably blurt out good-naturedly "who ARE these people?"
i'm not a fan of the show, but man, the cast is gorgeous.
anyway,
the other perk of volunteering is being able to walk backstage.
"it looks just like a hospital...corridors and doors everywhere."
"yah hor, now that you mentioned it."
the view from the rehearsal studio is breath-taking.
i look forward to checking out the theatre studio.
so this is what it feels like to be a performer.
------------------------------------------------
thank you for the magic Tokidoki Jido.
~~
With light, comes hope.
Dance and music merge with visual arts and projection for this multi-media exploration on the conflict between despair and hope.
Tokidoki-Jido, one of the pioneers of Performance Theatre in Japan, blurs the lines of artistic ownership between creator and audience by involving local volunteer performers in Lightology.
~~
our 3 day workshop aka boot camp just ended yesterday.
we've all been "trained", this week will be real rehearsals.
The collaboration between Jido and the volunteers make no logical sense.
From jido's point of view, they're making lives harder for themselves by including volunteers, and having to train everyone from scratch everytime they hold a performance.
From the volunteer's point of view, you wonder why anyone would want to spend up to 9 hours a day rehearsing for free and no apparant reward.
but what a ride it has been.
my energy level is going lower by the day,
but mentally it's so refreshing,
like i'm living in another world.
felt so weird to go back to work today after 2 days and 3 nights spent at the rehearsal studio.
like i'm there but not really there.
-------------------------------------------
Ask me what Ligthology is about
and i'll say 'i dun know'.
I didn't know before,
and i still don't know!
haha!
but that's the exact reason why i was attracted to the show.
the power of serendipity.
i remember walking past the poster while walking to the esplanade food court with MJ and KL,
the title "Lightology" caught my eye and after reading the poster description,
(i made the guys walk the long way back so i can read the poster!)
i knew immediately i wanted to catch the show no matter what.
one thing led to another and suddenly I'M in the show!
----------------------------------
the group of volunteers are mostly made of young (mostly poly age) pple.
and most have backgrounds in dance or drama or some other performance thing.
in short, we're all young voyeurs.
so there's raw energy,
and there's pure enthusiasm to do anything, especially quirky things.
some of the things that jido made us to,
like make weird noises,
can only come alive with a crowd that is willing and not shy.
initally we were all self conscious and apprehensive,
but after a while it's all hell break loose.
and what a beautiful choir we made out of noise.
yesterday we did our final exercises on it,
and when i think of how we began and how far we've come,
it's just pure genius
the synergy between jido and a group of young pple willing to take on anything.
----------------------------------------
Jido impressed me with their creativity and quirkiness.
some of their ideas are original and they're not afraid to just do it.
and they get it done well too.
the director is a 58 year old guy with pure white hair.
but he catches inspiration so quick,
it's inspiring just to watch him.
the noise excercise thing he made us do borders on split second imagination from each of us.
it's like i make u a random hand gesture and u make the first sound u think of.
in fact, don't even think, just make a sound, the more original the better.
so there's so much creative energy in the air,
i make a gesture thinking of one sound and u make one totally random and out of my expectation.
so it keeps the mind active and excited cos there's so much randomness.
it's magic.
yesterday one of the girls in my group started tap-dancing.
i burst out laughing uncontrollably watching her dance cos none of us expected her to move (we were making noises, not moves..), much less do some cheem cheem tap dance.
it was so funny.
been some time since i laughed so whole-heartedly on impulse.
(no wait, i just did that at KTV with weips last week)
and i think it is this raw energy and creativity that the director loves abt the volunteering segments.
Probably every volunteer session gives him something exciting and new he has not seen before.
the director himself plucks magic from the air.
you can see him thinking for 2 sec abt how to string all the things together,
and then "ta-ta-ta-tatatata" he'll know exactly what he wants the sequence to be.
-----------------------------------
I'm gonna juggle during the pre-show!
yee-ha!
haha.
see the Jido guys saw me juggle so much,
(before rehearsal, i juggle at the underpass and they bump into me while walking from the hotel.
during break, i juggle.
after rehearsal, i juggle at the underpass and they bump into me while walking back to the hotel)
they opened up the pre-show segment to anyone who wants to perform!
so at first the director asked who wants to perform (besides the juggler)
and only one hand shot up, a professional lady dancer.
as usual, everyone was shy abt performing solo and someone asked for time to think abt it.
"ok", the director said," let's do this. After rehearsal, those who want to perform, stay and leave your name"
so, so far they only have 2 items for a 20 minute slot.
after the rehearsal, suddenly more and more pple came to sign up.
it really was a pleasant surprise cos the typical reaction is pple are shy to perform.
but what can i say, we're all voyeurs.
even more inspiring and surprising is how they merge talents so easily.
one chinese sitar player tag-teamed with an indian and they're performing together.
a pair of sweet pretty eurasian twins are going to sing.
a guy and a girl who only just got to know each other are gonna sing a duet.
2 dancers also came together to collaborate.
there's lindy hop.
(there're also lots of drama pple and 2 magicians but they're not performing. also at least one film-maker, 2 photographers and an architect-turned-magazine-columnist.)
it's amazing how diverse and talented the group is.
very gung ho.
during breaks,
there might be a group formed somewhere trying to learn indian dance,
or i might be holding a 3 ball workshop,
or someone will be teaching dance.
it's a bubble world!
---------------------------------------------
"Lightology is a multi-disciplinary work that attempts, in unusual ways, to transform human despair and sorrow into hope and pleasure. "
even though the show defies categorization,
(it's dance, multimedia, special effects, a rock concert, drama, experimental...)
the philosophy and core of the lightology project is clear.
"we want to harness all the happiness of the pple present to help pple out there who are in despair."
it's a little like Zen/buddhism,
where you mediatate and concentrate on generating positive energy and then dedicate it to anyone out there who is suffering.
and i think all the events, no matter how weird they are, revolve around that theme.
of happiness and light overcoming darkness and despair.
isn't it so wow?
------------------------------------------
we keep bumping into the perplexed cast of West Side Story backstage.
they'd stare at the never-ending line of young boys and girls and inevitably blurt out good-naturedly "who ARE these people?"
i'm not a fan of the show, but man, the cast is gorgeous.
anyway,
the other perk of volunteering is being able to walk backstage.
"it looks just like a hospital...corridors and doors everywhere."
"yah hor, now that you mentioned it."
the view from the rehearsal studio is breath-taking.
i look forward to checking out the theatre studio.
so this is what it feels like to be a performer.
------------------------------------------------
thank you for the magic Tokidoki Jido.
1 Comments:
At 5:15 AM,
Anonymous said…
cool!
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