Japanese Dance Performance in Menemsha
Image
It’s not often you stumble upon a Japanese dance performance in the middle of Menemsha on a Monday evening!
Well that’s what happened to me. Whist out with our photographer shooting real estate along the shoreline, I took a quick break and went down to the harbor. Granted it was a beautiful evening, so I thought it might be busy, but I was not prepared for all the crowds and lack of parking in early June! Fifty or more people were gathered on the rocks by the jetty and watching what appeared at first to be a child wrapped in a kimono lying on the water’s edge. I was to discover that this was a creative dance performance by Japanese artist Eiko Otake. I had missed the introduction but i was told that the audience were encouraged to follow the performance as she moved around the landscape. We followed orders, in a kind of mesmerized trance which took us back over the rocks, through the parked cars, to the Texaco gas station and along the fishing dock and finally to Larsen’s fish market, where a Q&A was held.
The Yard, brought the performance to the Vineyard, called “A Body in Places”, it’s described as a solo performance by Eiko Otake, where, according to The Yards website, “She goes to a place of her choice, studies the function, and characteristics of the place, and performs there alone without theatrical lights, music, or other conventions of performance venues”
A performance of “A Body in Edgartown” was held on Friday June 3rd.
The A Gallery in Oak Bluffs is hosting “A body in Fukushima”. A photo exhibition to accompany the project by William Johnston. The Exhibition continues until June 12th.