Dance
Time to Move
Although Teshigawara has directed a troupe of his own in his time, he prefers to travel lighter now. Other than three full-time associates, the Kazahana dancers were drawn from a loose network – some freelancers, some members of stable companies – who share his desire to expand the horizons of their discipline. Upon arrival in Lille, Junaid was immediately integrated into that network, taking part in morning classes and improvisations.
‘Breathe’
There Junaid was often struck by the simplicity of Teshigawara’s directions. “He’ll say: ‘Breathe’ or ‘Melt’. Slowly he adds things, and the movement grows, until at the end, it’s big, with a very deep feeling. He examines the different ways the dancers move, and really uses the different ways they move when they dance together. He uses dancers very wisely.”
Watching Through a Viewfinder
“To observe is preparation for dancing,” Teshigawara said. No doubt to sharpen Junaid’s eye, he initially put the young dancer to work with a video camera – an indispensable tool in these surroundings, both for its documentary uses and as a creative instrument in its own right. “It’s hard not to dance when others are dancing,” Junaid said, “but I’m here to learn about choreography, and I have to be patient.”
Finally Performing
The initial phase of observation was soon to end, and Junaid’s patience (or impatience?) rewarded. For July, Teshigawara invited Junaid to Civitanova, on the Adriatic coast of Italy, to dance in Green, a beatific vision conjured up amid live goats and rabbits.
Of course, continuing observation was on Junaid’s programme, too, notably of the final half-hour solo (to Mozart) for Teshigawara himself, a dancer whose intellectual rigour meshes seamlessly with the unguarded spontaneity of a child.
Highlights of the Year
Beyond Italy, the master plan called for Junaid to join Teshigawara in Japan for advanced study. Mentor and protégé went to work each day in a converted bank where Teshigawara developed a fresh segment for Junaid to introduce in the Tokyo premiere of Kazahana in February 2005. In the chronicle of Junaid’s year with Teshigawara, this Japanese debut in a major role (with subsequent reprise in Hong Kong) stands out as a high point.
Inner Visions
But while in Japan, Junaid also reached a more private pinnacle. Teshigawara had chosen the tight inner strongroom that once served as the bank’s walk-in safe as the location for Perspective Study, vol. 1, a video that investigates how the eye constructs what it sees. Junaid and Rihoko Sato – Teshigawara’s choreographic assistant – are the only figures on-screen. The sequence that lingers most indelibly shows Junaid positioned in profile, torso pulsing, wrists angled, hands flung high and forward, striking like a cobra.
Extracted from a chapter, written by Matthew Gurewitsch for Unique Voices, Common Visions, a record of the 2004/2005 cycle of the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative