The biennial New Vision Arts Festival opens in style with a cross-disciplinary, cross-continental production this year. German choreographer Sasha Waltz, best known for her cross-disciplinary collaborations, has joined creative forces with Japanese classical composer Toshio Hosokawa to stage Matsukaze, in which dance, opera and Noh theatre combine. In what promises to be a truly original theatrical experience, minimalist Eastern theatre is textured with Western opera and fluid choreography set to an atmospheric, and at times dramatic, score.
Based on the classic Noh play of the same name, this avant-garde retelling revolves around sisters Matsukaze and Murasame, whose lingering spirits remain entangled in the human realm where they relate their love stories to a Buddhist monk. Set against an eerily apocalyptic landscape, the sisters also become dancers, enmeshed with other performers beyond time and space in a 17-metre wide diaphanous web. Such vivid stagecraft serves as a Noh bridge, crossing from the present to the afterlife while taking souls back to the mortal world for ultimate liberation.
Enhancing the experience of the production will be fringe activities including a masterclass, public showcase, pre-performance talk and a meet-the-artist session on October 22.
In German with Chinese and English surtitles.