Amin Abbas

On Thursday, January 30 experimental dancer Min Tanaka performed  'Locus Focus', an improvised dance presentation that returns the process of dance to nature in the place where the performance takes place; interacting with the surrounding environment to challenge modern conventions of dance and its role in contemporary society.

The performance was held at Bait Al Naboodah, Al Mureijah Art Spaces in Sharjah where Tanaka performed an impressive dance that was to the surrounding environment of the place.

Min Tanaka is an avant-garde and experimental dancer, deeply inspired by Tatsumi Hizikata, founder of Ankoku Butoh, Dance of Darkness.

Trained in classical ballet and modern dance for ten years since 1964, he became active as a modern dancer.

 In 1966, Tanaka started his solo performance. He then grew increasingly skeptical about the cultural scene and the Japanese dance “industry” which, which mirrored class-bound identities and post-World War II social mannerisms.

Eventually, he withdrew himself from the Japanese Contemporary Dance Association, and started to pursue his own dance activities in 1974.

The activities were rapidly developed into his “hyper-dance,” emphasizing psycho-physical unity of the body. His expansion in the expressive activities impacted and instigated the art and cultural community, through his collaborations with Japanese and world-wide intellectuals, scientists, and contemporary artists of his time.

“This is my first visit to UAE and upon my observation to the old heritage architecture and designs of the venue, I made a performance that reflects the atmosphere of the people who used to walk and live here,” Tanaka said.

“My interest from this visit was to meet the local people here and to know more about their daily life, because most of the news we hear about the Middle East region is usually sad. I believe that the performing art of dancing is the best way to show the reality of the people here rather than what we hear from the news,” Tanaka added.

The Locus Focus performance is part of the on-going exhibition 'Inter-Resonance: Inter-Organics, Japanese Performance and Sound Art' at Sharjah Art Foundation. The exhibition is the second iteration of Sharjapan, a four-year-long collaboration with curator Yuko Hasegawa, which this year focuses on performances and sound-based installations exploring interactions between nature, technology and human life.