The first time I saw Chisato Minamimura’s work, at one point, I gasped, and reflexively pulled my arms into myself. I was experiencing the movement of the Woojer belts for the first time. These vibrating belts were part of one of the first in-person shows we welcomed at our historic red building after the pandemic. Chisato’s harrowing and stark work Scored in Silence was part documentary and part witness about the Deaf survivors of the atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Now, we are pleased to present Chisato’s new work, Mark Of A Woman. I’m thrilled to be able to once again welcome the virtuosity of Chisato, who devises, creates, and performs her original, and ground-breaking works in movement,Visual Vernacular, Sign Language (here translated into American Sign after being created in British Sign) and exquisite projection design.
If I were to define or describe an embodiment of what TPM represents, Chisato is at the centre of it. She is a living example of ‘beyond walls’, traversing form and creation. She imagines a performance from her place in the world that is utterly unique, shedding light with a firm artistic hand.
For me, as well, the embedded access that Chisato includes in all of her productions (for many different communities) is in many ways, what I consider an ideal. Her shows demonstrate her incredible artistry that also has access embedded inside of the aesthetic. Art and Access are the same. Inclusivity is a given, not an an after-thought.
Mark of A Woman, is a very different piece than her first work seen here at TPM. Exploring the connection between tattoo culture and women, it draws the links between body memory, identity and power. Not strictly narrative, the meditative movement is specific and evocative, asking an audience to lean in to her mesmerizing performance. Episodic and elliptical, the work holds a loose structure like how we may encounter memory or navigating a dream.
Much gratitude to Canadian Heritage and the Government of Canada, for their support in order to bring such unique experiences to us here at Theatre Passe Muraille.
Enjoy.
Marjorie Chan, Artistic Director