Ji Mo 寂寞: The Stillness of Solitude

Dance Music Theatre
for voices, xun, er-hu, bamboo, water, rocks, Chinese percussion

“... a healing meditation.” ~The Oregonian

Video Excerpt


Description
Ji Mo 寂寞: The Stillness of Solitude is a music-dance-theater work for quartet. Thinking about the hikikomori (young adults in Japan who withdraw from society), my collaborators and I go beyond the comforting heartbeat of the drums to explore the distress signals of loss.

Creative Team
Byron Au Yong, composer, voice, xun, er-hu, bamboo, rocks, percussion
Michelle Fujii, voice, bamboo, water, rocks, percussion
Karen Akada Sakata, voice, xun, bamboo, rocks, percussion
Toru Watanabe, voice, bamboo, water, rocks, percussion

Kikuko Dewa, shibori artist
Michelle Kumata, costume designer
Okazawa M, technical director
Sarah Lin Bhatia, production coordinator
Lorraine Pai, installation coordinator

Details
Duration: 19 minutes
Commissioned by Portland Taiko
Premiered at Lincoln Hall in Portland, Oregon, April 2007

Press Quotes
“Seattle’s Byron Au Yong brings a highly visual theatricality.”

~Portland Tribune

“Taiko is often about loud, rapid drumming that thrills audiences with its physicality. But Portland Taiko takes a different tack with a new work on its upcoming concert.”

~The Oregonian

Photo Credit Aaron Jafferis

Photo Credit Jean-Stephane