Still Dancers

Endless nostalgia has drilled into our collective heads that the ’60s and ’70s were times of rapid change for music. Often overlooked, though, is that similar upheavals of style and form were going on across all of the arts — even dance. Among those leading the charge were Japanese choreographers...

By Arielle Castillo

February 3, 2011

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Endless nostalgia has drilled into our collective heads that the ’60s and ’70s were times of rapid change for music. Often overlooked, though, is that similar upheavals of style and form were going on across all of the arts — even dance. Among those leading the charge were Japanese choreographers and performers Eiko Otake and Takashi Koma Otake, known more simply as Eiko & Koma. Their work is characterized by spare but bold set and costume design, and most obviously, a glacial pace. The raising of an arm, for instance, can take a minute or more in one of Eiko & Koma’s experimental performances. But what at first seems frustrating or even ridiculous eventually gives way to a narrative that packs an emotional wallop. This weekend, Tigertail Productions will fete the pair during a 40th anniversary celebration. On Friday and Saturday night at 8:30 p.m., Eiko & Koma will perform their landmark pieces “Raven,” “Night Tide,” and “White Dance” at Colony Theatre. There’s also a Delicious Movement Workshop from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday at New World School of the Arts (25 NE Second St., Miami), where the pair will demonstrate how stillness is sometimes the most powerful movement of all.
Feb. 11-12, 8:30 p.m., 2011

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