Events

This group dance piece, inspired by Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea, was performed at Kazuo Ohno’s Modern Dance Recital in April 1959.
The script and direction were by Nobuo Ikemiya, and choreography by Kazuo Ohno.

A draft of a letter from Ohno to Hemingway still exists, though it’s not known if it was ever sent. In the letter, Ohno describes himself as a great admirer of Hemingway’s writing and says he is drawn to “the old man who is lonely yet not alone.” He also mentions his own love of fishing and discusses the ideas and structure of the dance, adding, “As a dancer, I have become completely captivated by The Old Man and the Sea.”

The music was composed by Shugo Yasuda. Ohno himself played the ocarina, while his son Yoshito played the bongos. A 6mm open-reel recording tape, likely used during the performance, still survives. Many photographs from both rehearsals and the performance remain as well.

Cast:
Negro — Shinji Kobayashi
Galano (Shark) — Kunihiko Fujii
The Big Fish / The Dead Fish — Yukito Ohno (Kazuo Ohno’s eldest son)
The Boy — Yoshito Ohno (Kazuo Ohno’s younger son, in his stage debut)
The Boat — Mast: Toko Yakō / Bow: Kiyo Ōsawa* / Stern: Noriko Aoki
The Marlin Couple — Masuhide Higashimoto*, Yasuko Masuyama*
The Old Man — Kazuo Ohno
(The appropriate pronunciation for names with * is unknown.)

Structure:
Prologue
La Mar (The Sea)
Juego (The Contest)
Galano (The Shark)
Epilogue
(As listed in the program; the structure differs slightly in the script.)