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| Dance Dance Asia – Crossing the Movements |
Featuring:
TAPDANCERIZE
s**t
kingz
The
show was done and all the performers took their bows a handful times already.
But the audience still didn’t want to leave the auditorium and instead opted to
dance inside turning the hall into an impromptu dance floor.
This just summed up how successful the first show of the Philippine leg of Dance Dance Asia – Crossing the Movements
held at the Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium at the RCBC
Plaza
Organized
by the Japan Foundation's newly established Asia Center unit, the
two night dance extravaganza featured the dance groups s**t kingz, TOKYOGEGEGAY and TAPDANCERIZE with the goal of connecting various people and
cultures among Asia through dance.
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| TAPDANCERIZE's Satomi Toma, Yozo, Shinsuke Sada, Jun'ichi Sunayama, Takeru Yamazaki, Gunjo, and Yuji Uragami with some of the organizers |
The
show opened with TAPDANCERIZE, a trio of tap dancers composed of Yuji Uragami
aka Suji Tap, Gunjo and Satomi Toma accompanied by a four piece band made up of
guitarist Shinsuke Sada, pianist Takeru Yamazaki, saxophonist Yozo, and bassist
Jun’ichi Sunayama. At first glance, one might find it odd that a band
accompanying dancers has no drummer/percussionist. But it was the tap dancers
themselves who provided the beats and other percussive touches that made their
set, entitled Simply Full of Tap, a
truly engaging and entertaining one. Solos from each dancer showed off his/her
individual tap dancing style: Satomi Toma with her clean lines and a more jazzy
style, Gunjo’s showing his strong breakdancing background when he incorporated
floor work into his solos, and Suji Tap’s wicked and unearthly footwork with
his duel with pianist Takeru Yamazaki. Their set ended with a number set to
Michael Jackson’s Heal the World that
resulted with the audience rising to their feet which wouldn’t be the last time
for the night.
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| TOKYO GEGEGAY's Mikey, Marie, Miku, Yuyu and Bow with some audience members |
TOKYO GEGEGAY’s showcase entitled TOKYO
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| s**t kingz's shoji, NOPPO, oguri, and kazuki |
The
last group to perform was the s**t kingz with the SK show, a compilation of their various routines through the years.
Right from the start, the quartet composed of shoji, kazuki, NOPPO and oguri
showed flair with their opening number set to Matt Morris’ Love. Their group dance numbers pay attention to details like quick
formation changes and pair/group work, enabling each member to have his moment
in the spotlight. Intricate choreography was exhibited in the number featuring Gotye’s
(feat. Kimbra) Somebody That I Used to
Know with the trio, each personifying an emotion, NOPPO for joy, shoji for
sorrow and oguri for anger. Each member also had a solo number with kazuki
dancing to Michael Jackson’s Leave Me
Alone with the lighting design used to great effect emphasizing his
alternating drunk and sober moments. Women in the audience couldn’t help but
scream when oguri took to the stage with his solo as a love struck guy using Ms. Seductive by Jeff Bernat for his
music. This was followed by a humorous bit of a fumbling waiter (NOPPO) and two
rivaling diners (oguri and shoji). A relaxed and suave NOPPO performed his solo,
still in his waiter attire, to a jazzy cover of Suit & Tie by the Step
Kids. The last solo was by shoji who also made the women swoon with his slick
moves to Justin Timberlake’s Strawberry
Bubblegum. This was immediately followed by the group’s final number that
had a clever use of clothing (suspenders, vests, handkerchiefs, hats) and even
a hat rack as props as the guys dressed up in stylish vintage clothing and prompting
the audience to groove along with them to the music of Uptown Funk by Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars.
After
the show, while the members of the audience patiently awaited the groups for a
meet and greet at the lobby, I heard several discussions as to which of the
three groups they liked the best. As for me, the use of live music really
sealed the deal for TAPDANCERIZE to emerge as my favorite group from the show.
It was the combination of the impressive technical skills of the dancers, the irreplaceable,
organic feel of live music, and the interaction between the dancers and the
musicians that made their set come out on top for me.
Dance Dance Asia – Crossing the Movements
by the Japan Foundation
Asia Center Dance Dance Asia will be one of the
most highly anticipated dance events in the country in the coming years.
