Japan Society Reveals 2023-2024 Performing Arts Season

Japan Society has announced its upcoming season of live, in-person performances at the Society with a first-of-its-kind concert series on John Cage's relationship with Japan, within a slate that includes contemporary theater, dance and more, from Fall 2023 through Spring 2024.  In Fall 2023, Japan Society begins the season with its series John Cage's Japan, focusing on the iconoclastic composer's fascination with Japan and his avant-garde ideas influenced by culture of Japan.  

The series kicks off with Paul Lazar's Cage Shuffle (September 28 – 29), a solo performance of spoken text that highlights Cage's strong connection with Japan.  Curated by composer/musician and internationally recognized Cage expert Tomomi Adachi, the series continues with three concerts in collaboration with the International Contemporary Ensemble in NYC.  

The first concert, Ryoanji (October 21) is John Cage's composition that he wrote through inspiration from the famous Zen rock garden of the same name.  His graphical score is interpreted by Tomomi Adachi, and will be performed together, but remotely, by the Ensemble in NYC with two Japanese musicians in Kanazawa, Japan.  The second concert will be the World Premiere of Noh-opera / Noh-tation (November 16), Adachi's composition in response to John Cage's unrealized project.  This new piece incorporates elements of AI technology and traditional noh technique.  Lastly, Cage Shock (December 7) pays homage to John Cage's historic 1962 visit to Japan by bringing back to life some of the iconic pieces he played while on tour, such as Haiku, Aria, Solo for Piano with Fontana Mix and 0'00". 

 

Japan Society's Artistic Director Yoko Shioya shares, “If John Cage had not encountered Japanese culture, there would have been no John Cage!”   This gutsy statement is the thought behind Japan Society's Fall 2023 lineup of John Cage's Japan, which we proudly present 61 years after Cage's first trip to Japan.  Shioya continues, "Borrowing John Cage's iconoclastic mindset, our Spring 2024 slate features radically innovative works that defy conventional perspectives of iconic Western culture — Hamlet, Boléro, The Dying Swan and hip-hop.”   

 

John Cage's Japan will take place concurrently with the Japan Society Gallery's upcoming visual arts exhibition Out of Bounds: Japanese Women Artists in Fluxus (guest curated by Dr. Midori Yoshimoto; running October 13, 2023 to January 21, 2024) which will include work from Yoko Ono, Cage's accompanist and guide during his 1962 tour of Japan. 

 

In Winter/Spring 2024, Japan Society presents the North American Premiere of Theater Company Kaimaku Pennant Race's Hamlet | Toilet (January 10 – 13) — an off-the-wall retelling of the Prince of Denmark's revenge play mixed with Japan's high-tech and idiosyncratic restroom culture.  Next up, traditional nihon buyo dancers Hanayagi Motoi and Azuma Tokuyo perform a piece from the classic kabuki dance repertoire, followed by a contemporary piece choreographed by Hanayagi Genkuro, set to Maurice Ravel's Boléro (January 24 – 26).  The season continues with its 18th Annual Play Reading Series featuring the sci-fi-inspired play The Good-Story Murders (March 18), written by Aya Takaha and directed by NYC-based Tai Thompson.  The season concludes with the dance program Beyond Ballet, Beyond Hip-Hop(May 10 – 11), a double bill featuring popular director/playwright Toshiki Okada's first foray into dance titled The Dying Swan & Its Cause of Death, performed by prima ballerina Hana Sakai with live cello solo, and a hip-hop-influenced work by the all-woman dance group MWMW, titled Encounter.

 

All events take place at Japan Society, located at 333 East 47th Street in Manhattan. Tickets available to Japan Society members beginning Thursday, August 10; General tickets available beginning Thursday, August 17.  For tickets and further detail, please visit www.japansociety.org or call 212-715-1258. 

MUSIC:  

“Cage Shuffle” / Created and performed by Paul Lazar / September 28-29, 2023 [Contemporary Music-Theater] 

“Ryoanji” / Composed by John Cage; Directed by Tomomi Adachi; Performed by the International Contemporary Ensemble, with Hitomi Nakamura and Maki Ota / October 21, 2023 [Contemporary Music] 

“Noh-opera / Noh-tation – Decoding John Cage's Unrealized Project” / World Premiere / Composed by Tomomi Adachi; Performed by Gelsey Bell, Wakako Matsuda and Adachi Tomomi, with the International Contemporary Ensemble / November 16, 2023 [Contemporary Music] 

“Cage Shock: Homage to his First Japan Visit” / Curated by Tomomi Adachi; Performed by Tania Caroline Chen, Victoria Shen and Adachi Tomomi, with the International Contemporary Ensemble / December 7, 2023 [Contemporary Music] 

THEATER: 

“Hamlet | Toilet” / Written and directed by Yu Murai; Performed by Theater Company Kaimaku Pennant Race / January 10 – 13, 2024 at Japan Society as Part of Japan Society-Produced North American Tour [Contemporary Theater] 

Play Reading Series: Contemporary Japanese Plays in English Translation / “The Good-Story Murders” / Written by Aya Takaha; Directed by Tai Thompson / March 18, 2024 [Contemporary Theater Reading] 

DANCE:  

“Nihon Buyo in the 21st Century: from Kabuki Dance to Boléro” / Featuring Hanayagi Motoi, Azuma Tokuyo and Hanayagi Genkuro / January 24 – 26, 2024 [Traditional & Contemporary Nihon Buyo] 

“Beyond Ballet, Beyond Hip-Hop” / North American Premiere / Double Bill, Featuring Toshiki Okada, Hana Sakai and MWMW / May 10 – 11, 2024 [Contemporary Dance]   

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