SANSEI: THE STORYTELLER
April 16 - 20, 2024
THE SHOW
Sansei: The Storyteller uses a wide variety of storytelling devices including comedy, dance, spoken word poetry, historical audio, and family interviews to share a true storytelling spectacular. This awardwinning performance tells the story of one of Canada’s darkest decisions and unwraps how – with help from the audience – the story of racism doesn’t need to end in hate.
“It’s the most fun you’ll ever have learning about the Japanese Interment” asserts creator/performer Kunji Ikeda, “with such a dark topic, I knew I wanted to include some lightness, some fun, some laughter.”
A WORD FROM KUNJI IKEDA
Stories are powerful magic… in my opinion, they are the quickest way to respect.
I am a big word nerd, and one of my favourite words to break down is ‘re-spect’.
The etymology of ‘re’ is to repeat (redo, rethink, reuse) and ‘spect’ is connected to ideas of sight (spectacles, spectator, spectacular); so to re-spect someone is to ‘see’ ‘again.’
When we offer someone re-spect we are seeing them in another light, in a new way. This definition empowers us because we can choose to let others see different sides of ourselves, let them see parts of our hearts or minds to encourage the possibility of re-spect. I think this is what Sansei offers, a light-hearted practice to see someone in a new light. It has given me a new definition of self re-spect.
Sansei: The Storyteller was said to demonstrate gaman - a Nikkei virtue meaning to endure adversity with patience and dignity. I am honoured that a personal narrative and an experimental physical storytelling method has grown into a national discussion on othering, community building, and mutual respect. This performance has generated so many professional and personal opportunities - including a greater chance for harmony with members of my family - and will serve as a reminder of the power of storytelling. Thank you so much for joining me on this adventure today - for entering into an exercise in imagination and respect.
Thank you to my father Fred Isao, my uncle Edward Yoshio, and my aunt Jane Yoshiko for the trust and courage to share their stories with me.
Thank you to everyone who stayed after to chat about their experiences.
Thank you to the organizations and individuals who have supported an earlier rendition of this performance.
Cloudsway Dance Theatre is dedicated to bring wellbeing through the training and performance of dance theatre. Cloudsway Dance Theatre invites our community to experience the human condition through the artistic excellence of our multidisciplinary performances and workshops.
We aim to redefine narratives of the body to demonstrate how physical communication can enhance physical, emotional, and spiritual wellbeing. Internationally renowned educator Sir Ken Robinson states “dance has the potential to refresh the part other subjects cannot reach.” We believe that a deeper understanding of oneself inspires a deeper understanding of the other; this is physical empathy.
“You have to regard yourself as a cloud, in the flesh, because you see clouds never makes mistakes. Did you ever see a cloud that was misshapen?” – Alan Watts, Cloud Sway: the ever-flowing movement of a cloud Clouds’ Way: letting go of form, without holding on to past
WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU!
Scan this QR code to complete our NEW audience survey to be entered for a chance to win a $150 Coquitlam Centre Gift Card!
MEET THE CREATIVE TEAM
Kaili Che - Stage Manager
Kaili Che (謝祖弘), a Chinese-Canadian interdisciplinary artist, choreographer, and movement educator, based on the unceded lands of the Coast Salish Peoples (Vancouver) and in Moh’kins’tsis, Treaty 7 Territory (Calgary). Kaili embraces her core values of vulnerability, curiosity, play and collaboration to guide her art making. She advocates for creating braver and safer spaces, while incorporating anti-oppressive practices and Disability Justice principles.
Kunji Ikeda - Creator and Performer
Kunji Ikeda (池田 勲二, he/they) plays with physical communication to grow physical, emotional, and spiritual wellbeing within his communities across Turtle Island. Their fearless political work explores our communities most pressing political ideas and has earned multiple awards and nominations for performance and choreography. Ikeda has trained intensively with One Yellow Rabbit and has offered his diverse creative lens to dance, theatre, choir, and musical ensembles across Canada. Ikeda is the Artistic Director of Cloudsway Dance Theatre based in Mohkinstsis (also known as Calgary), and is honoured to be pursuing a life of connection and empathy.
Ikeda was awarded the Enbridge Emerging Artist Award by the Calgary Arts Development Authority in 2015, as well as named an Artist in Residence at the Banff Centre 2019, to generate his massive dance theatre adaptation of Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment.
Photo by iCandy
