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Triangle Project - Nobuko's Artist Statement |
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The journey of creating "Dandelion" has been one of traveling beyond the boundaries. Each rehearsal period has opened new musical possibilities and organically grown a dramatic structure for the work. For me, as a multi-racial, third-generation Japanese American, it has also given me the courage and opportunity to experience my first visit to Japan in a special way.
For any artist, to explore one’s roots and where history has taken them is a powerful means of artmaking. But to do so in collaboration with artists such as Yoko Fujimoto and PJ Hirabayashi has added dimension and depth to this experience. We are overcoming the challenges of distance and language to explore our distinct life journeys and musical expressions. The music is always the magic that illuminates our stories, helping us communicating beyond words. And, as an artist who spends much of my time helping to nurture the work of others, I’m especially relishing these moments to challenge myself creatively and as a performer in such high level company.
The project has also given me the opportunity to travel to Japan with PJ to Sado Island to visit KODO’s home and rehearse with Yoko in their wonderful studio. For me it was an incredible introduction to Japan, to be in an art village with people immersed in a variety of traditional Japanese folk forms. It made me realize the importance of taiko in building a bridge between Japanese in Japan and America. In our case, we are stretching the use of taiko with vocal music, both traditional music and contemporary. So far, the people who have seen the project, in Japan and America seem to be deeply touched, feeling there is a unique importance to our work and the stories we are telling together.
Being in Japan for the first time was particularly significant in uniting me with my mother’s family in Fukuoka. As a third generation who doesn’t speak Japanese, has a Mormon grandmother (on father’s side), an African American husband and an Afro-Asian son, who is a Sufi Muslim, I don’t mind saying, I was a bit scared. To my amazement, they took me in, as a child come home, on my "roots journey" and realized their family has become very "international." This deepened my conviction of the importance of the Triangle Project. We have a unique and powerful way through our music and stories, of opening boundaries not only between Japanese and Americans, but across cultures. We are telling a universal story of the human journey. We are all dandelions, traveling, changing, a part of an interconnected world.
Nobuko Miyamoto
Founder/Artistic Director, Great Leap
Back to Triangle Main Page
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| Updated: 10/5/05 |
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