Japan Society announces 60th Anniversary Performing Arts Season

In Japanese tradition, kanreki, one's 60th birthday, is a special celebration of longevity and rebirth, honoring a lifetime of accomplishments, taking stock of achievements, and diving into the future with renewed drive and reinvigorated purpose.

In the 2013-14 season, Japan Society's 60th Anniversary Performing Arts Season: Japan, the U.S. & Beyond!, the Japan Society Performing Arts Program celebrates its kanreki with a range of international cross-cultural collaborations, encompassing beloved encore performances, world and U.S. premieres, legendary performers and emerging artists.

Since 1953, Japan Society's Performing Arts Program has enriched and expanded the cultural landscape in New York, the U.S. and beyond through the presentation of artists whose works are formed or inspired by the arts and culture of Japan.

"In the early years of the program, Japan Society offered eye-opening first glimpses into the unique and beautiful traditions of Japan," says Japan Society's Artistic Director Yoko Shioya, who has led year-round programming since 2003. "Today, in an immensely more globalized world bounding with near-limitless interconnectivity, we not only continue to host outstanding performances at our home venue in New York City and through North American tours, but also initiate dialogues, build exchanges and inspire collaborations among creative forces from Japan, the U.S. and beyond to make innovative visions come to life."

The season kicks-off with an encore performance of Basil Twist's award-winning puppetry masterpiece Dogugaeshi, September 18-22--an intricate, evocative reimagining of traditional Japanese puppet theater staging techniques, with live music performed by master shamisen player Yumiko Tanaka. Commissioned by Japan Society in 2003, premiered to wide acclaim in 2004 and presented again during the Society's Centennial Celebration in 2007, the piece has toured extensively, including several stops in Japan, and was part of Twist's 2012 career retrospective festival in Washington, D.C.

"In the way Basil was able to absorb the subtleties and beauty of Japanese culture when he first went to Japan to research the craft of the little-known, disappearing staging technique known as dogugaeshi, the piece itself has developed new textures and layers from its travels, which will unfold in our unprecedented third presentation," says Shioya.

On October 4, avant-garde iconoclast musician/composer John Zorn performs two separate, back-to-back improvisational concerts with Ryuichi Sakamoto as the final, culminating event of Zorn's citywide 60th birthday celebration Zorn@60.

"It's more than coincidence that John celebrates his kanreki at the same time as ours," says Shioya. "John's passion for Japan on all levels is profound, from the numerous artists he's introduced through his Tzadik music label and the label's live music concert series that he curated at Japan Society, to the hundreds of thousands of dollars that the concerts he organized for Japan around the city raised for victims of the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami."

From November 20-December 8, the program presents an ambitious world premiere of Yukio Shiba's Our Planet, directed by Alec Duffy, founder of the Obie Award-winning theater company Hoi Polloi. The first site-specific commission in the Society's history, the production utilizes public and nonpublic spaces in Japan Society's landmarked building to tell the story of an ordinary family set against the spectacular events of the birth and death of planet Earth. Duffy's star creative team includes motion graphics master Nobuyuki Hanabusa from Tokyo, who will help take the environmental theater piece to the next level.

"It was Alec's brilliant idea to stage Our Planet throughout the building-New York City's first example of Japanese modernist architecture," says Shioya. "Utilizing several floors and many unique spaces, Alec will guide small audiences of no more than 30 per performance through Yukio Shiba's cosmos-encompassing story."

The winter and spring installments of the celebratory season feature the surreal and humorous The Room Nobody Knows by psychiatrist turned one of the most talked about theater artists in Japan, Kuro Tanino, January 8-12; ancient Shomyo: Buddhist Ritual Chant (thought to be one of the oldest living forms of vocal music), rarely performed in the U.S., in a contemplative and colorful performance by two- dozen priests at St. Bartholomew's Church, March 6; and the International Premiere of choreographer Luca Veggetti's Pleiades, performed by former Ji?í Kylián's Nederlands Dans Theater soloist Megumi Nakamura, and in collaboration with distinguished percussionist Kuniko Kato, May 2-3. The season rounds out with the Play Reading Series: Contemporary Japanese Plays in English Translation, Getting Lost written by Shiro Maeda and directed by Dan Safer, founder of the dance-theater company Witness Relocation, March 31; and an annual summer concert.

JAPAN SOCIETY'S 2013-14 PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE

All events at Japan Society unless otherwise noted.

Basil Twist's Dogugaeshi

September 18-22

FILE UNDER: Theater

Japan Society's 2003 commission and Bessie Award-winning work by New York puppet artist Basil Twist -"one of the era's most audacious puppeteers" (The Washington Post) -kicks off Japan Society's momentous anniversary season. Twist was intrigued by the rarefied and dying tradition of Japanese dogugaeshi, a complex scene change mechanism used in puppet theater from the Awaji region in which dozens upon dozens of sliding screens and inverting doors, each one more elaborate and beautiful than the next, gradually open to the final palace tableau. Twist reinvents the art form, employing four puppeteers, including himself, and 88 screens that slide, swivel, bend and bounce. The piece's only figurative puppet, a meticulous recreation of a gorgeous Japanese white fox that Twist encountered in his research on Japanese traditional tales, guides the audience through the ever-changing forest of screens, unfolding both abstract and modern imagery inspired by Japan. Twist's Dogugaeshi is a cross-cultural collaboration with master shamisen player and experimental musician Yumiko Tanaka, who performs live shamisen music and whose multi-layered music collage embraces everything from traditional tunes to popular songs.

Performances: Wednesday, September 18 (followed by a special season opening celebration dinner) at 7:00 pm; Thursday, September 19 at 7:30 pm; Friday, September 20 and Saturday, September 21 at 7:00 & 9:30 pm; and Sunday, September 22 at 2:00 pm.

Tickets: $36/$28 Japan Society members. Special season opening celebration tickets September 18: $100/$92 Japan Society members, including the performance and a post-performance bento box sit-down dinner with Basil Twist.

Zorn@60: John Zorn + Ryuichi Sakamoto

Friday, October 4 at 7:30 pm & 9:30 pm

FILE UNDER: Music

Incomparable musical maverick John Zorn returns to Japan Society for a concert birthday bash held as part of the international series of musical happenings honoring his turning 60. Composer, arranger, saxophonist and Japan aficionado, Zorn, whose music ranges from classical to contemporary and rock to klezmer, curated Japan Society's Tzadik Label Music Series and was a leading force behind the 3/11 citywide charity series Concert for Japan. For this celebratory concert, Zorn is joined on stage by musical pioneer composer, pianist and Academy Award-winner Ryuichi Sakamoto. Together, these two visionary artists offer an entirely improvised evening of music.

Tickets: $36/$28 Japan Society members.

Our Planet, written by Yukio Shiba and directed by Alec Duffy

**World Premiere

November 20-December 8

FILE UNDER: Theater

Audiences whizz through outer space on a shooting star (and literally through the public and nonpublic spaces in Japan Society's landmarked building) in Our Planet, the Society's newest and first ever site-specific commission directed by Alec Duffy, founder of the Obie Award-winning theater company Hoi Polloi. This inaugural English language production of the Japanese award-winning play Our Planet written by Yukio Shiba, which juxtaposes the everyday life of an ordinary family with the galactic events of the earth's birth and death, comes to life through Duffy's creative team which includes Obie-winning scenic designer Mimi Lien, composer Tei Blow and Japanese motion graphics master Nobuyuki Hanabusa, whose moving images enhance the building-wide playing field. Performed in English.

Performances: Wednesday, November 20 (preview) at 7:30 pm; Thursdays, November 21 and December 5 at 7:30 pm; Fridays,November 22 and December 6 and Saturdays, November 23 and December 7 at 7:00 pm and 10:00 pm; and Sundays, November 24 and December 8 at 5:30 pm.

Tickets: $28/$22 Japan Society members, except preview: $20/$14. This is a non-seated, standing and walking performance experience. No late entry.

Niwa Gekidan Penino's The Room Nobody Knows

January 8-12, 2014

**North American Debut

FILE UNDER: Theater

Two brothers inhabit a mysterious, dreamlike apartment. On the day of the elder's birthday, the younger, who is supposed to be studying for college entrance exams, is preoccupied with creating unusual objects for the celebration. Meanwhile, in the upper room, the younger brother's alter egos--derived from his wild imagination and taking the form of two creatures, one with a sheep's head and another with pig features--help with the party preparations. Written and directed by psychiatrist turned Japan's most-talked-about theater artist Kuro Tanino and performed by his company Niwa Gekidan Penino, The Room Nobody Knows opens a weird yet funny world hidden deep within the Tokyo metropolis. Performed in Japanese with English subtitles.

Performances: Wednesday, January 8 and Thursday, January 9 at 7:30 pm; Friday, January 10 and Saturday, January 11 at 9:30 pm;Sunday, January 12 at 2:30 pm.

Tickets: $28/$22 Japan Society members.

Play Reading Series: Contemporary Japanese Plays in English Translation

Getting Lost, written by Shiro Maeda, directed by Dan Safer

Monday, March 31 at 7:30 pm

FILE UNDER: Theater

A young Tokyoite woman feels unsettled and lost. As she confronts the many discomforting thoughts of love, friends and family in her muddled life, her past, present and future begin to collide, spiraling her further and further from reality into a hallucinatory world. Dan Safer, celebrated theater director and founder of New York's downtown company Witness Relocation, leads a cast of American actors in this absurd yet serious tale. Written by Kishida Kunio Award-winning playwright/director Shiro Maeda, who has come to be known for portraying heavy issues through conversational, everyday dialogue, Getting Lost represents the voice of Japan's so-called "lost generation." This reading marks the 10th installment of this series, which began in 2005, aimed at introducing U.S. artists to theater from Japan. Playwright Maeda joins a post-performance conversation with the artists via live stream broadcast from Japan.

Tickets: $12/$9 Japan Society members.

Shomyo: Buddhist Ritual Chant, performed by Shomyo no Kai--Voices of a Thousand Years

Thursday, March 6 at 7:30 pm

**North American Debut

OFFSITE EVENT: St. Bartholomew's Church, Park Ave. at 51st St.

FILE UNDER: Music

Co-presented with The Mid-Manhattan Performing Arts Foundation and held at St. Bartholomew's Church, the glorious, reverberating voices of two dozen Buddhist priests in colorful robes fill the grand hall of St. Bartholomew's Church. One of the oldest living forms of vocal music, shomyo is believed to have originated in India before traveling along the Silk Road and eventually entering Japan in the 6th century, where it has been practiced ever since. The critically acclaimed group Shomyo no Kai--Voices of a Thousand Years, comprising priests from the Shingon and Tendai sects whose mission is to showcase the beauty of shomyo as an art form, performs the contemporary shomyo work Life in an Autumn, written in the aftermath of 9/11 by New York-and-Tokyo-based composer Ushio Torikai.

Tickets: $30/$24 Japan Society and St. Bartholomew's Church members.

Pleiades -Veggetti, Kato and Nakamura

Friday & Saturday, May 2 & 3 at 7:30 pm

**International Premiere

FILE UNDER: Dance, Music

Italian choreographer Luca Veggetti, known for his international projects, premieres his latest piece Pleiades at Japan Society. A collaborative work with two Japanese artists---distinguished percussionist Kuniko Kato, and dancer Megumi Nakamura, acclaimed worldwide since her days as a soloist with Ji?í Kylián's Nederlands Dans Theater--Pleiades stems from the choreographic possibilities offered by Pléiades, a mesmerizing score by Greek composer Iannis Xenakis (1922-2001) for a sextet of mixed percussion. On stage, Kato plays with and against herself while Nakamura, adopting a similar strategy, dances with her projected double, and a universe is kept in balance by the synergy, dialogue and counterpoint of the musical and choreographic actions.

Tickets: $30/$24 Japan Society members.

RELATED PROGRAMS AND WORKSHOPS

Shamisen Workshop with Yumiko Tanaka

Saturday, November 2, 1:00 pm - 5:00 pm

Used in kabuki and bunraku puppet theater, the three-stringed shamisen is one of the most central musical instruments in Japanese traditional theater. Master shamisen player Yumiko Tanaka from Tokyo, leads a workshop on playing and chanting techniques specific to the shamisen. The session includes a short demonstration performance by Tanaka and NY-based shamisen player Yoko Reikano Kimura, who joins the workshop. Max. 12 participants. Some music experience preferred. Observer tickets may be available after participant tickets have sold out. Tickets: $48/$42 Japan Society members.

Buddhist Talk & Demonstration in conjunction with Shomyo: Buddhist Ritual Chant

Tuesday, March 4 at 6:30 pm

Rev. Kojun Arai, Japanese Buddhist priest from the Shingon sect joins us as a special guest for a lecture on Buddhism in Japan. Details to be announced on www.japansociety.org. Tickets $12/$8 Japan Society members, seniors & students.

HISTORY OF THE JAPAN SOCIETY PERFORMING ARTS PROGRAM

Since its inception, Japan Society's Performing Arts Program has presented well over 600 events of the finest Japanese theater, dance, and music from the most stunningly preserved traditional to the genre busting cutting-edge. Today the program continues to push boundaries, educate and make creative visions come to life by presenting and touring works by leading International Artists, promoting cross-cultural exchanges, commissioning new works and coordinating artist residencies and public programs.

Beginning with its first ambitious presentation in 1953 at Columbia University, the Society has shared the unique arts and culture of Japan with U.S. audiences. In 1957, the Program began actively presenting Japanese musicians of both Eastern and Western traditions through concerts at schools and leading New York City venues. In the years to follow, programs such as gagaku Imperial Court music (1959) and the NY premiere of bunraku (1966) were among Americans' first tastes of the traditional performing arts of Japan.

In 1971, the completion of the Society's building (landmarked in 2011) at the current location gave the program a permanent stage of its own and opened its doors for year-round presentations. The space was inaugurated with a concert by the Tokyo String Quartet. Subsequent breakthrough presentations include Awaji Puppet Theater (1971); Eiko & Koma U.S. debut (1976); a two-week-long run of Grand Kabuki (1982) at the Metropolitan Opera House; Tadashi Suzuki's The Trojan Women/The Bacchae (1982); and Sankai Juku (1990) at New York City Center.

In 1992, a major donation from the Lila Acheson Wallace/Japan Society Fund enhanced the Society's auditorium, enabling the Program to vastly expand its offerings. Highlights in the years following include Yamabushi Kagura (1994); Toru Takemitsu's memorial concert (1996); Seinendan Theater Company U.S. debut (2000); and Mansaku-no-Kai Kyogen Company (2003), to name a few. In 2006, an exclusive Performing Arts Program endowment was established through a matching grant from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, allowing the Program to increase the frequency and scale of its commissions to non-Japanese artists for the creation of new works inspired by the culture of Japan. In addition, the Program has collaborated with world-class cultural organizations such as Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, The Public Theater, BAM and the Guggenheim Museum; and the Program's leadership role in Society-produced North-American tours of Japanese performing artists has earned it recognition among presenters around the world.

Founded in 1907, Japan Society is a world-class, multidisciplinary hub for global leaders, artists, scholars, educators, and English and Japanese-speaking audiences. At the Society, more than 100 events each year feature sophisticated, topically relevant presentations of Japanese art and culture and open, critical dialogue on issues of vital importance to the U.S., Japan and East Asia. An American nonprofit, nonpolitical organization, the Society cultivates a constructive, resonant and dynamic relationship between the people of the U.S. and Japan. More at http://www.japansociety.org.

Japan Society is located at 333 East 47th Street between First and Second avenues (accessible by the 4/5/6 and 7 subway at Grand Central or the E and M subway at Lexington Avenue). Tickets may be purchased in person at Japan Society, by calling the box office at212-715-1258, or by visiting www.japansociety.org. For more information, call 212-832-1155 or visit the website. Student Rush tickets for some programs go on sale one hour prior to performance and are subject to availability.

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