Viva Brighton Issue #43 September 2016

DANCE
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Chisato Minamimura
‘Visual sound’ artist
Chisato Minamimura is a dancer and choreographer
whose deafness informs work she describes as
‘visual sound’.
When I first started working in the UK after
moving from Japan I didn’t know any other deaf
dancers. I couldn’t hear the music, but I was meticulous
in following the other dancers’ movements,
working with visual clues and anything else I could
pick up in the performance space.
I had so many ideas that I wanted to shape from
my deaf perspective that it was a natural progression
for me to move into choreography. I am
interested in sharing my deaf life, but I also want
to show that a deaf person can instigate and direct
work about sound and music, even though it might
seem like a contradiction.
I often describe my pieces as ‘visual sound’. Music
is about the hearing world, but dance has rhythm
and an attention to timing and movement in space.
I spend a lot of time sitting in the front row at
The Royal Opera House because I love seeing the
conductor working with the orchestra. I can’t hear
the music, but I find the movement that directs it
so compelling.
I was lucky to work early on with choreographer
Jonathan Burrows, who encouraged me to
make dance work through scoring visually. This is
an interesting way of communicating your intention
without needing the dancers to hear instructions
or listen to music. Those who download my
free app can see how mathematical scores inform
each piece I make, including Passages of Time, my
new work for this year’s Brighton Digital Festival.
The title of the work is taken from a quote by
composer Peter Maxwell Davies, who described
music as ‘the passage of time through sound.’ This
sits at the heart of my work, and is something I can
relate to absolutely. To me it sums up the science
and mechanics of what constitutes music.
Composer Danny Bright has scored a piece for
the work, drawn from the sounds the dancers make
when they move. Danny took samples from their
rehearsals and composed from these digitally. He is
experimenting with vibration, so the work will have
some loud and strange surprises - be warned! It’s
not solely musical, but it has interesting qualities
beyond that.
I hope my works encourage audiences, both
hearing and deaf, to experience the world differently.
Passages of Time uses digital technology as well
as dance and light to visualise sound and music. I
think deaf viewers will feel a strong connection to it,
but I don’t wish to be exclusive. I sign in the piece,
but there will also be captions for people to read.
Digital is such an interesting field, and I always
enjoy working with digital artists. It allows translation
of one sensory realm into another, and I just
love what it gives me, a whole palette with which to
create new worlds.
Interview by Nione Meakin
Chisato’s digital dance work, Passages of Time, is at
The Spire, Kemptown on September 3rd and 4th as
part of the month-long Brighton Digital Festival, see
brightondigitalfestival.co.uk
chisatominamimura.com
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