Fast Forward

The Fast Forward mini festival explores the freshest, most innovative emerging works on the dramatic art scene. This year, Fast Forward focuses on Japan, to which the festival's "Panorama" section is devoted.

Maywa Denki: "Mechatronica"

Shows by Maywa Denki are veritable performances in which "company president" Nobumichi Tosa and his employees play music on the most surprising instruments, a series of strange and fascinating artefacts, each a unique and original artwork in itself. Here are robots that dance, instruments that play themselves and a host of other weird and wonderful gadgets

Running time: 60 minutes

Stringraphy Ensemble: "A Memory of Forest"

Apply the principle behind those simple children's telephones made from string and paper cups to music and the result is an instrument both simple and charming, capable of turning a large hall into a kind of gigantic harp. Adding to the attraction is the extraordinary dance that the musicians themselves perform as they use their bodies to play the silk strings, creating movements that are often as beautiful as the music itself.

Credits:

Director and composer Kazue Mizushima

Performers Kazue Mizushima, Motoko Shinohara, KIKU, Takayuki Saito, Saito Bunko

Producer Midori Yaegashi

Running time: 40 minutes

Masako Yasumoto

Magnetic, captivating, always innovative... Masako Yasumoto is one of the most fascinating figures on the Japanese contemporary dance scene today. She has studied neither ballet nor butoh; rather, she takes her inspiration from Japanese popular culture to create choreographies that are as personal and innovative as they are absolutely accessible.

Credits:

Choreographer and dancer Masako Yasumoto

Lighting design Noriyuki Mori

Running time: 30 minutes

Fuyuki Yamakawa

A musical happening in which Yamakawa translates his own heartbeat into light impulses, amplifying its sound or rhythmically beating his forehead to produce the soundtrack to his performance. Equally impressive are the artist's extraordinary vocal abilities, for Yamakawa excels in diplophonia, that is, simultaneously emitting two sounds.

Running time: 20 minutes

In cooperation with Consulate of Japan in Barcelona

Video Fast Forward - Kazue Mizushima & Stringraphy

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