http://urbanhonking.com/pica/2006/09/10/yubiwa_hotel_photography_by_se/ Tue, 19 Mar 2013 23:29:54 +0000 hourly 1 http://urbanhonking.com/pica/2006/09/10/yubiwa_hotel_photography_by_se/#comment-566 Sun, 10 Sep 2006 20:59:18 +0000 http://urbanhonking.com/pica/2006/09/10/yubiwa_hotel_photography_by_se/#comment-566 What hasn’t been posted about the performance, and what struck me as its abating theme, is the unemancipated place of women in Japanese society. Maybe that’s what’s been lost in translation to an American audience that takes female actualization somewhat for granted in western culture (accepting perhaps, the boat achor of poverty). As a member of the Gloria Steinim generation, I would suggest that the full circle presented in the piece takes us from the death-like moments before an arranged marriage (which will result in a life not preferred) back to the innocence, and yes, fickleness, of girlhood. Is there a potion or antidote (or pancake ritual) which might stave off the inevitable arrival of womanbeing? Maybe. At first the pancake satisfies. The innocent animal creatures eat cones as the mistresses of their own destinys, and display clarity and accuracy over their freely chosen actions and intensity (the choreographed basketfall tossing). But, in the end, they strip themselves to reveal they are, in the final analysis, sexual beings who whirl around in the gaze of others (instead of themselves). The high heels, glittery lingere and cigarettes may at first suggest an emerging body politic. As the piece suggested after the miscarried wedding scene: parts of their souls are lost forever. The longing for what is gone will not be fulfilled. They dance. They are not free.

]]>