The other Tokyo . . .

outside the realms of TPAM and Connected is yet another world . . .I have some friends in Tokyo that I caught up with and some new friends that I made . . .this is the Tokyo beyond the isolated world of performance.  It really was an eye opener . . .  the techniques that are used in performance to engage the audience, I suppose theatre did come before TV after all.  Some things are about the small intimate experience, so much so that one needs to touch and feel it, no matter what exposure facebook or a blog can give you maybe in the end it is about actually BEING there.  I fell in love again with Tokyo this time because I got to touch and feel it . . . and this is when one realises that it is what you do as well as well as you who you meet whilst doing it that makes the difference . .The journey and those mysterious encounters.

Okonomo Yaki . . .a new discovery with Takeshi, Yukie and Takehiro

The Stoke Newington boys . . . after their morning at Tsukiji . . .then on the train . . .(Gregor and I did not go to the market)

Literally lost in translation on the JR

Home Alone (an exhibition in Daikanayama)

Ped and Tommy at Dita store

A secret wine theatre with Yuki

Surfing in Chigasaki

rocking the wet seal look - Takeshi, Tommy and I (with my amaaazing Malia Jones Typhoon board which Takeshi has kept for me)

amazing organic buffet after surfing

Hello Kitty, Yuki and I (Yuki was not even supposed to be in Japan so it was a wonderful surprise and amazing to catch up, and she totally spoilt me as well - thanks Yuki for Donkey, Tatami, sashimi and funny tokyo moments)

Bye bye Tokyo

On the Narita Express Limousine I overheard some kids talk about the Vanity Fair Oscars party a skating and surfing trip and a big tour . . .I figured the kid must be some pro skater/snowboarder or soemting.  So out of interest, I asked Yuki via bbim if she had ever heard of or seen a shaggy redhead who sounded very charming and funny who was a pro skater or skier. . .well, her bf who is a skater said that it must be Shaun White.  Well, you see , I've not heard of Shaun White, nor has Yuki, and it turned out to be Shaun White . . . a prodigy and well, 2 time olympic snowboard champion and amazing pro-skater. There goes my street cred for admitting that - he was nice, funny and his publicist, very lovely.  There you go, one of those chance encounters . . . that may or may not become something . . . how cool would it be if finally him and all these people I met came to Bkk, even if it was just for a moment so we can see, touch, feel and get to kow all these things that we read out and hear about . . . That is the other Tokyo for me. Must bring it home . . .back to bkk. Thank you Tokyo. 

Rabbit by Coney

Coney creates games, ones that the audience engage in . . .we do not know what it is that we are to find, we do not know what it is that really we are looking for yet on the journey you discover things that are not scripted . . .one ventures into the unknown.  Tavos Stevens of Coney left us to our own devices, by a dictatorial rabbit who told us what to do and spoke in code, instructions that were random, about his lost love . . .it is a tokyo love story by a rabbit . . . we went underground, to his home but this was more like the complex tunnel of which is Ikebukuro . . . pictures speak louder than words . . . 

some of Rabbit's friends . . .owls on a moon (depends who you look at them)

Live Art Speed Date

Performance for a while now, is no longer left to the realm of the audience as a non-participant, where he/she watches in silence as the performers do their thing, express their art.  In Tokyo, I went to a speed dating session,with Stoke Newington International Airport, a group based in East London at an imaginary airport.  Their performance - Live Art Speed Date is perhaps less of a performance rather than a complete experience.  To see and be there is to believe . 

One enters Super Deluxe to be given instructions and date cards, the boys then demonstrate. . .  I got 5 dates in 5 different locations, all dates with various artists. . .an intimate 4 minutes where you engage and have a date, where you share a moment, no matter how planned it is on the part of the artist, each date is different, it has to be.  One enters the realm of intentional accidents and the unknown.  Where does reality begin and make believe start? is it at the end of 4 minutes? What they create is a platform, where you get your own personal performance, that as "date" feels like a personal experience.  

My first date was with an artist who caressed my hand under a table and together we traced our hands with crayons . . .it was beautiful.

On another, I was told by the girl that she "noodles me" and she performed a solo ouvre whilst preparing my cup noodles of which as my initials are CW she added Chocolate and Whipped cream of which she proceeded to feed to me.  .. .wow.

Then the bar code birl uuu.co . . where through the scan of a barcode she played me songs

Then the paper theatre from London where threw SKYPE they made me a story with me in it . .

And last but not least, a date that Paul and I crashed was Cherry Taiphoon, a burlesque Japanese rather chubby lady who took us to a cubicle  . . .need I say more?

Maybe I am saying too much . . .maybe too little . . .and of course there was Chatroulette.

Whatever it is was - it was memorable and really absolutely wonderful.  I wonder when I will have another speed date again . . .

Contact Gonzo

Never have I seen a drummer with this kind of intensity, this kind of drama . . .and this was dance . .we were on the edge of our seats . . .the mix of violence, emotions, suspense, choreography and martial arts . . . as the audience, we were kept completely in dark as to what would happen next.  That is theatre perhaps . . .or what theatre should be.

Nekobukuro - cats cats cats

Cats are really special, they have 9 lives and they see into the soul . . .or have some kind of sense, or so they say.  We know that cats are really special in Tokyo what with Murakami's "Kafka on the Shore" and of course the Maneki Neko who brings in fortune (the little cat that calls you in).  Well, in the depths of Ikebukuro where the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Space is and where we stayed as that was where all the action was taking place, on top of Tokyo Hands is Nekobukuro . . .or a cat petting zoo.  

A cat in his house

There is nothing like it . . . it's like a zoo/pet shop but basically you go along and pet cats . . . the most bizarre experience EVER . . .and I suppose one of those curiousities unique to the city where if you  cannot keep a cat you can go and pet them and love them still.

Hiding Cat

My fave cat

I did this in between a dance performance and Live Art Speed Date . . .the performance by Contact Gonzo like nothing I have ever seen before . . .and then Live Art Speed Date . . .

Piggy Tokyo

I had the pleasure of spending all of last week in Tokyo - a city which no matter how many times I have been I do not fail but feel like Scarlett Johansson in Lost in Translation, that might be a cliche by now but it is true.  The little quirks, the contrasts, the obsessiveness that makes it Tokyo - oh how I love it. 

I was a delagate of the British Council, representing MCOT, for the Tokyo Performance Arts Market and The UK's Connected showcase.  It was brilliant albeit exhausting. I really opened my eyes but more on that later . . . It is overwhelming the sites and sounds . . .especially when one is watching 3-4 performances a day . . .more on that later.

First thing was first though . . .food, and well, the Isetan food market is reason enough to relocate to Tokyo . .I thought this was genius . . .loove.

Cheesy Piggy

Also, Maisen . . .always my first stop, an institution of a Tonkatsu place, enough so to have its own road . . .and of course, I should bump into my co-patriots from Thailand, a dozen of them, making  a little stop in Tokyo after skiing. . . .

Maisen

a Farmer's market below Chanel

pop-up Kitsune at Montoak

That is only day one.