A Clear Plan
Mentorship in Three Stages
From the beginning of their mentoring year, Saburo Teshigawara had a clear plan in mind. In the first stage, Junaid would observe and assist. Next, he would be integrated into Teshigawara’s ensemble, learning and performing parts in existing pieces. Finally, through a process of intense improvisation, they would develop new choreography for Junaid to dance.
The Adventure Begins in Lille, France
In May 2004, Junaid joined Teshigawara for their initial phase, that of observation and assistance, on Prelude for Dawn. Outdoors the city was baking under a fierce sun; inside it might as well have been midnight. Instead of the thoroughbred artist-athletes Teshigawara customarily puts through their paces, the dancers were a score of French schoolchildren, all visually impaired or blind. The steps and gestures he had given them were elementary, but the architecture he built over the span of 40 packed minutes was anything but. The simple acts of walking, turning, running or raising an arm – introduced by a single child, then repeated and varied by the group – assumed a genuine majesty.
Observer and Assistant
Junaid’s role at this juncture is partly that of observer, partly that of assistant: a man unseen. Off in the wings, he is keeping watch to see that the fledgling dancers catch their cues and hit their marks. Sometimes, under cover of a blackout, Junaid assists by walking them to their places. And once in a while, as the lights come back up, his slight silhouette is caught stealing back into the shadows like a furtive ghost.
Witness to the Creative Process
Teshigawara’s singular form of dance theatre strikes many viewers as deeply mysterious, and it is mysterious to Junaid, which shows that he is paying attention. To initiate Junaid into his perplexities, Teshigawara assigned him the role of witness to the creation of a second new piece called Kazahana, this one for a dozen professional dancers of awesome proficiency. According to Teshigawara’s programme notes, the title denotes the phenomenon of snow fluttering to earth from a clear blue sky.