{"id":4096,"date":"2020-06-28T15:29:28","date_gmt":"2020-06-28T14:29:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/?p=4096"},"modified":"2020-06-28T15:29:29","modified_gmt":"2020-06-28T14:29:29","slug":"voyager-hitch-your-ride-into-the-galaxy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/?p=4096","title":{"rendered":"VOYAGER: hitch your ride into the galaxy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Reflect and write on an odyssey<\/em> through the limitless\nuniverse<\/em>? You have the afternoon. OK go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Quick answer: Extravaganza! Much longer answer:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The full gambit is employed to lay out an exploration of the\nuniverse (not just our solar system or galaxy, mind you), and our place in it.\nForgive yourself for emerging wide-eyed and somewhat overwhelmed. Action! Climactic\nmoments on average every 10 minutes. Will this pleasure never end? Nope, not\nuntil we\u2019ve danced along every trail of starlight from Mercury to Pluto.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have classical ballet, street dance, gymnastics. We have\na backdrop screen against which the dancing happens as interactions with, and\nmanipulations of, the massive graphics being projected there. Orbs of light,\nexpanding and shrinking shapes, fireworks, even almighty supernovas.\nImmaculately in sync with these motion graphics on screen is the precise placement\nof every footstep, hand flick, neck tilt, shoulder roll, undulation and spin\naround.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have a live band providing the soundtrack and the guiding\nrhythm for the on-the-beat meticulously-timed moments on stage. I loved the flitting\ncamera cuts to the musicians jamming their pips off. Bass man, oh, slap the\nfunk! Drummer man, rocking out!  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wow, Voyager<\/em> is super-slick. It\u2019s the kind of eye\ncatching, modern pizzazz, explosion of entertainment we see on all the Got\nTalent type TV shows busy brainwashing the Instagram-generation into believing\nthey alone, the judges & co., are the omnipotent authorities on what\nqualifies as art and creativity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Enra is the Tokyo-based company behind Voyager<\/em>.\nThey\u2019ve been producing dance and video-light-art synthesised works for the better\npart of the past decade. This is what they do. It\u2019s not clear when this filming\ntook place but Voyager<\/em> appears to be a pinnacle of sorts, a\nrestructured, remastering of their collection of previously released briefer\nepisodes of the work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What I like though, is there\u2019s a sense of moving away from\nthe insta-moment quick-woah hurrah that this style of work can elicit from\nwithin the youtube autoplay roll. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scenes of stillness punctuate the effervescent whole.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meteors are quietly suspended in space. No air. No gravity. A\nsolo figure moves minimally in shadow, a small beam of light the only signal of\nactivity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A duo seamlessly intertwines within a sphere of blended\nmetallic colour. Attract and retract. They are the calm before the storm, the\ninner workings of an atom before the big bang birthed us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once in a while, far in the distance, like a fading memory a\nroving satellite appears\u2013 a reminder of our beginnings, our home, our miniscule\nplace in the galaxy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Softly, melancholically, our voyager envelops in her hands\ndying stars. A rhythmically slow beat chimes at each extinguishing. She then\ngracefully sinks lower, down, collapsed upon herself. Alone. The beat has\nbecome a hospital machine beep. It\u2019s quiet now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Layered in between the scenes of exuberant jubilation, these\npauses allow a glimpse into the abyss, a flutter of thought about how\ninsignificant we really are down here below the atmosphere, against the\nbackdrop of the universe\u2019s infinity. No matter how important we think we are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Look, at times I felt I was watching an interesting\ncompilation of Windows screensavers through the ages. On acid. And I\u2019ll be\nhard-pressed to answer whether or not the dance alone would stand strong if\ntrick by trick the \u2018extras\u2019 were stripped away. That\u2019s a tough discussion\nbecause firstly, each mover on the stage is an accomplished dancer, and secondly\u2026\nthis is Enra\u2019s thing: choregraphing with the tech in mind. It\u2019s inherent to the\nchoreographic choices and style. Some local works come to mind from recent\nyears where the AV is tacked on as an afterthought \u2013 a superficial effort to\nboost the show\u2019s \u201cwow factor\u201d \u2013 soundscapes and projected imagery in \u2018response\u2019\nto the dance and usually not worth the time to mention. Almost as bad as an\nunjustified smoke machine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Enra works their video creations and dance from the same\ncreative impetus. The video is not simply an enhancement but integral to their\nproduct. Many of us hold onto an idea that traditional theatre spaces are one\nof the last strongholds against the technological age \u2013 a refuge we can visit\nwhere the live and the personal still exists. Where we hear the breath of the\nactors, smell the sweat of the movers, and feel it all in \u2018real\u2019 time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is always the outdoors but we seem unable to visit\nthere without #posting #on #instagram anyway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the digital age, folks. If you have the means, you\nhave the screens. And Enra embraces and integrates this approach, delivering a\npolished package to Generation Tech. Why not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Watch VOYAGER here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ORIGINAL CAST<\/strong>
Tsuyoshi Kaseda, Maki Yokoyama, Saya Watatani, Tachun, Yusaku Mochizuki, Kazunori Ishide, Takako Morimoto, Aoi Nonaka<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CREDITS<\/strong>
Creative Director -Nobuyuki Hanabusa
Music Director -Nobuaki Kaneko
Music \u2013 Nobuaki Kaneko, Kei Kusama, PABLO a.k.a. WTF!?, Nobuyuki Hanabusa, Takashi Mori
Motion Graphics \u2013 Nobuyuki Hanabusa, Tetsuji Ono, Hidenori Noda, Takeshi Naito (Triple Additional)
Video Producer -Hiroo Kojima (STEADY)
Video Technical Director -Kazuya Tsurukawa (Audio Visual Communications)
Sound Technical Director -Atsuhide Tsukuda
PR \u2013 Yukari Nishioka, Yasuyuki Unriin (Kyodo Medias), Ken Hasunuma (DISK GARAGE)
VOYAGER Website \u2013 Chiuling Wang,
Associate Producer -Samon Takagi (Empire Entertainment Japan)
Producer \u2013 Maiko Doi (Empire Entertainment Japan), Kazuma Sakai (PARADOX)
Executive Producer -Theodore Miller (Empire Entertainment Japan), Maki Tsutsumi (Empire Entertainment Japan)
Production -Empire Entertainment Japan
Production Support \u2013 Audio Visual Communications \u2013 Meguro Kogei
Special Thanks -Yutaka Toyama (PROMAX), Atsufumi Murata (TV Asahi)
Booklet Art Direction \/ Photo \u2013 Nobuyuki Hanabusa
Booklet Design \u2013 Akiko Iyoda
Translation \u2013 Alexander Michaelson (Empire Entertainment Japan)
Printing \u2013 Hakkou Bijyutsu<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reflect and write on an odyssey through the limitless universe? You have the afternoon. OK go. Quick answer: Extravaganza! Much longer answer: The full gambit is employed to lay out … Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":4097,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[2],"tags":[1035,1002,1034],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4096"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4096"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4096\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4098,"href":"https:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4096\/revisions\/4098"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4097"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4096"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4096"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4096"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}