The future is light

I've been in France celebrating my father's and my birthday so it's been a bit quiet here in blogland. But of course when you've been to Paris there'll be things to blog about.
But let me go backwards...





Tonight back home in Berlin I saw the wonderful Australian dance company Chunky Move's GLOW (above) at Radialsystem V - groovy newish arts venue by the river Spree. It was my first visit to this venue I'd eyed off from my bike a few times. I already knew the work of Chunky Move - I consider myself quite a fan of the forward-thinking Melbourne-based company directed by Gideon Obarzanek. This work was created in collaboration with German software designer Frieder Weiss. It's an ingenious marriage of physicality and technology, a dance between body and computer, light and sound. I saw a few years back the second work in this vein Mortal Engine which was equally as impressive.



In Paris we saw the wonderful Japanese dancer choreographer Saburo Teshigawara, founder of Karas. He performed a solo Miroku at the Théâtre National de Chaillot. "Miroku" is the name given to the Buddha in his last reincarnation when the world has reached a state of harmony.

His stunningly controlled, centred yet chaotic movement was set off by beautiful spare lighting, also designed by him, which varied in tempo to complement his movements or to draw attention to part of him only. The colour blue was used to suggest the infinite sky or sea. At times it really seemed to me that Mr Teshigawara's body was being moved around by the air around him. I was moved to tears as I recalled a childhood dream of mine that endures to this day, to dance by myself in a huge space to loud music...