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“STAGE BEYOND BORDERS”
—Cross-Border Online Distribution of Outstanding Japanese Stage Performances
From February 2021, the Japan Foundation (JF) has started the project “STAGE BEYOND BORDERS—Selection of Japanese Performances,” which presents outstanding Japanese stage performances online for people throughout the world who are seeking opportunities to enjoy Japanese stage performances amid the spread of COVID-19.
More than a year has passed since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, theater festivals worldwide have been canceled, artists have lost their performing venues and people can no longer visit theaters like in the past. At the same time, however, an increase in virtual interactions via the Internet has also created more opportunities for sharing moving experiences and excitement in real time with people in distant locations.
Performing arts is one of the earliest forms of entertainment that through strangers and various environments stirs the imagination about ongoing stories and provides hopes and hints about the real world. The Japan Foundation’s online project “STAGE BEYOND BORDERS—Selection of Japanese Performances” is expected to encourage hope for all people who enjoy performing arts by presenting outstanding Japanese stage performances beyond borders in multiple languages.
The Japan Foundation hopes to cultivate new fan bases for performing arts and also approach theater professionals in order to hold performances at overseas theaters once interactions among people are allowed to resume.
The works distributed through this project span the three genres of contemporary theater, dance performance and traditional performing arts. These performances have multilingual subtitles in around five languages and can be viewed free of charge on the Japan Foundation’s official YouTube channel. In addition, new limited release performances exclusively for this project will also be available for viewing.
(c)Y. INOKUMA, (c) KAWASHIMA Hiroyuki, (c)TAMURA Katsuya
| Release date | Artist | Title | Subtitles |
|---|---|---|---|
| February 12 | SPAC-Shizuoka Performing Arts Center | “Grimm’s Fairy Tale - The Girl, the Devil and the Mill”(*) | English, French, Russian, Spanish, Korean, Portuguese |
| February 19 | UMEDA Hiroaki | "Median" | |
| February 26 | WATANABE Hisashi | "Ojami-hyon series Episode 1 Ojami-hyon" | |
| "Ojami-hyon series Episode 2 Ojami-RUN" | |||
| "Ojami-hyon series Episode 3 Ojami-nchu" | |||
| March 5 | TANINO Kuro | “Fortress of Smiles" | English, French, Russian, Chinese, German |
| March 12 | OKADA Toshiki | "Five Days in March Re-creation in Yokohama" | English, French, Russian, Chinese, German, Portuguese |
| March 19 | IWAI Hideto | “WAREWARE NO MOROMORO (Our Stories...)” | English, Russian, Korean, Chinese, Portuguese |
| March 26 | ICHIHARA Satoko | "The Question of Faeries" | English, French, Russian, Spanish, Korean, Chinese, Portuguese |
| April 2 | Dumb Type | "2020" | English, French, Italian |
| May 7 | SPAC-Shizuoka Performing Arts Center | “Grimm’s Fairy Tale - The Real Fiancée”(*) | English, French, Russian, Spanish, Korean, Portuguese |
| May 14 | BATIK | “THE RELIGION OF BIRDS” | English, French, Russian, Spanish, Korean |
| June 4 | KATAYAMA Kurouemon | "Noh: Mystery, Myth & Movement" (*) | English, French, Russian, Spanish, Chinese, Indonesian |
| June 11 | NOMURA Mansai | "Kyogen: The Humor of Frailty & Tolerance" (*) | English, French, Russian, Spanish, Chinese, Indonesian |
| June 18 | TAKEMOTO Oritayu, TSURUZAWA Seisuke, KIRITAKE Kanjuro | “Bunraku: Storytelling, Music & Puppetry” (*) | English, French, Russian, Spanish, Chinese, Indonesian |
| June 25 Due to extenuating circumstances, online release of "Kabuki: The Legacy of Eccentric Spectacle" will be postponed until further notice. We will announce the new release date as soon as we can. |
NAKAMURA Shido | "Kabuki: The Legacy of Eccentric Spectacle" (*) | English, French, Russian, Spanish, Chinese, Indonesian |
| July 2 Due to extenuating circumstances, online release of “Japanese Traditional Performing Arts: Discovering with New Eyes” will be postponed until further notice. We will announce the new release date as soon as we can. |
KATAYAMA Kurouemon, NOMURA Mansai, TAKEMOTO Oritayu, TSURUZAWA Seisuke, KIRITAKE Kanjuro, NAKAMURA Shido | “Japanese Traditional Performing Arts: Discovering with New Eyes” (*) | English, French, Russian, Spanish, Chinese, Indonesian |
| July 9 | MORIYAMA Kaiji, HIBINO Kodue, KAWASE Kohske | "zero" | |
| July 16 | SHUTO Yasuyuki & NAKAMURA Megumi | "A Chronicle of the Time Yard" | |
| September 17 The release date has been changed to October. We will announce the new date as soon as we can. |
Dairakudakan | "Dream Cambrian" (*) |
- URL of the venue：
- The Japan Foundation official YouTube channel
- Web site:
- https://stagebb.jpf.go.jp/en/
- Organizer：
- The Japan Foundation (JF)
Notes:
- 1) Please note that the plan above is as of May 2021. The schedule, artists and language of subtitles might be changed depending on the situation.
- 2) The performances marked with an asterisk are new creations for this project.
- 3) Dance performances without dialogue have no subtitles. Both Simplified and Traditional Chinese subtitles will be available. Subtitles of languages other than English may be uploaded later than the release date due to the production situation.
- 4) The performances distributed by this project will be available until the end of March 2022. However, some performances may change their viewing period. Please check our web site to find out more information including the viewing period for each performance.
[Contact Us]
Shinohara (Ms.), Shin (Ms.), Tamura (Mr.),
Performing art section, Arts and Culture Dept., The Japan Foundation
Tel: +81-(0)3-5369-6063
E-mail: pa＠jpf.go.jp
(When sending an e-mail, please replace the full-width "＠" character with a half-width character.)
