Fight Capsule.When I saw Fight Capsule, a theatrical version of Japanese martial arts Japanese martial arts refers to the enormous variety of martial arts native to Japan. At least three Japanese terms are often used interchangeably with the English phrase "Japanese martial arts": "budō", literally meaning "martial way", "bujutsu called tate, the audience at La MaMa La Mama may be:
New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. ? The answer: no publicity. Yet Fight Capsule deserved to be seen. Conceived and choreographed by Masahiro Kunii (who was fight director for Shogun shogun (shō`gŭn'), title of the feudal military administrator who from the 12th cent. to the 19th cent. was, as the emperor's military deputy, the actual ruler of Japan. on Broadway and for Ninagawa Macbeth at BAM Bam (bäm), town (1996 pop. 70,100), Kerman prov., SE Iran, on the intermittent Bam River. Located on the western edge of the Dasht-e Lut, Bam is a trade center in a henna-growing region. Dates and other fruits are also grown; camels are raised. ) and directed by the talented Hiromi Sakamoto, Fight Capsule was highly theatrical and virtuosic. Several sentimentalized scenes, however, weakened its powerful dramatic thrust. As the stage lights up, the ideogram id·e·o·gram n. 1. A character or symbol representing an idea or a thing without expressing the pronunciation of a particular word or words for it, as in the traffic sign commonly used for "no parking" or "parking prohibited. for kiru (to cut) appears. We hear a temple bell and Buddhist chant. Suddenly, ten men and women carrying swords and wearing martial-arts costumes jump onto the stage. Accompanied by drumming, they demonstrate the elements of tate--stances, jumps, sword movements, and turns. As the first section ends, these elements combine for a battle in which all are killed. The second part begins with the sound of an atomic bomb atomic bomb or A-bomb, weapon deriving its explosive force from the release of atomic energy through the fission (splitting) of heavy nuclei (see nuclear energy). The first atomic bomb was produced at the Los Alamos, N.Mex. explosion; as the lights come up, a bomb seems to be falling. Emperor Hirohito (the voice of Sakamoto) is heard saying: "I am over-whelmed by this tragedy. We have to end the war." A scroll floats down from the sky, and a passing ninja (a warlord's spy) takes it to his boss. Its message is declaimed: "Whoever experiences the disaster of nuclear war is responsible for persuading the world to abolish the nuclear bomb." Accompanied by Capcom Sound Team's computer music, a fight for possession of the scroll ensues. The choreography for the second section is as spectacular as for the first, with double somersaults, high jumps, cartwheels, and dangerous-looking swordplay. Absent, however, is a connection to the message of peace inherent in the narrative elements. The third section, which has four scenes following the change of seasons, tells an intricate tale of multiple murders. Whether evil or virtuous, all the characters are killed. The winter scene, accompanied by traditional music on the samisen (a three-stringed instrument something like a banjo banjo, stringed musical instrument, with a body resembling a tambourine. The banjo consists of a hoop over which a skin membrane is stretched; it has a long, often fretted neck and four to nine strings, which are plucked with a pick or the fingers. ) adapted by Yujiro Takehashi, ends with Buddhist chants for the dead and the sound of a temple bell. Traditionally, the martial arts of Japan were closely connected with the arts and philosophy. Though this production is visually beautiful, Kunii's choreography does not wholly succeed in melding philosophic and moral thought with movement. |
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