TeZuka, a dance piece inspired by the imagery and themes of Japanese manga, opens at the NZ International Arts Festival this weekend. Renee Liang previews the show.

TeZuka, a dance piece inspired by the imagery and themes of Japanese manga, opens at the NZ International Arts Festival this weekend. Renee Liang previews the show.

It’s Belgian- Moroccan choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui’s third visit to the NZ International Arts Festival, and this time he’s exploring what may be a surprising personal obsession for him – the world of Japanese manga, or comic books. Perhaps it’s not that surprising, given manga has for years had a following among quirky intellectuals and creatives as well as a lucrative populist market.

Cherkaoui’s work, as its title suggests, draws on the work of legendary Japanese manga artist Osamu Tezuka – called by some the ‘godfather of anime’ – the creator among other things of Astro Boy. Astro Boy appears in the piece, but it’s the combination of live bodies and projection that has had critics slavering over it. How’s this for a taster (from the Festival’s press release): “The dancers’ liquid movements create brushstrokes upon a vast canvas; inky blooms of colour and coiling calligraphy emerge on giant unfurling scrolls. Manga characters move within an animated scaffold of comic-strips, and a Shaolin monk enacts an enthralling kung fu battle – complete with cartoon ka-pows.”

Interlacing technology with live action is all the rage in performance these days, but doing it well – and appropriately – takes a level of skill and artistic insight, not to mention deepish pockets. From what I’ve been reading Cherkaou succeeds on all levels. Add to this a cast of 10 dancers and three musicians from Japan, Portugal, Belgium, Sweden, Norway, Korea; a score by Nitin Sawhney, and a calligrapher who draws live on stage and this is starting to look like a pretty potent combination.

The show also promises a deeper examination of Tezuka’s philosophies and practice. Manga itself draws on ancient arts and ideas, so it is fitting that this dance piece also blends the modern and the traditional, and in doing so unites the worlds of dance and graphic narrative.

Tezuka comes to Wellington as part of a worldwide tour, including parts of Asia, Europe and America, so it will be interesting to see how audiences here respond.