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Interview

Takaya Eguchi & Misako Miya's Dances on the Front Line

04'58" 
  

A selection of valuable testimonies on Japanese dance
 
This excerpt is from a series of interviews on dance conducted since 2015, featuring Rina Atsumi - a leading figure in the world of modern dance - speaking from her own experiences on modern dance before and during the war.
 
Featuring: Rina Atsumi
 

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Rina Atsumi (1928~)
One of the few remaining people who witnessed modern dance before and during WWII. She began dancing with Takaya Eguchi and Misako Miya in 1941, and also performed with them in Japan during the war. After the war, she began creating her own works while also dancing with the Tsuda Nobutoshi Dance Group. She set up a dance studio in Hiratsuka, Kanagawa, helped establish Dance Kanagawa, and worked on the promotion of local culture.
 
Takaya Eguchi and Misako Miya's tours
After studying for two years in Germany, Takaya Eguchi and Misako Miya returned to Japan in 1933 and began working on energetic performances, leading the way for Japanese modern dance. Between 1939 and 1942 at the request of the army, they toured along the frontiers in China, Singapore and Malaysia with some of their students.
 
・1939: South China (Guangdong base)
・1940: Central China (Hankou base)
・1941: Central China (Hankou/Jiujiang base)
・1942: Burma, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia (Syonanto* base)
 
*Syonanto was the name for Singapore during the Japanese occupation.

Featuring Rina Atsumi
Interviewers: Katsuhiko Sakaguchi, Rumika Nishida
 
Planning/Direction: Toshio Mizohata
Video: Naoto Iina
Music: Satsuki Hoshino
Subtitle translation: Mai Honda
 
© NPO Dance Archive Network, 2017