How do I (Kana) use movement to tell a story?

There is a concept called “ma”(間) in Japanese art. It means something like “the space in between,” “a moment after and before,” “a pause,” “negative space,” etc. I always give attention to this ma in my work as a choreographer. If I am working with music or sound, there is always ma to be discovered within and between the notes, the breaths, and the beats. Hearing the musical landscape allows me to illustrate the feeling and the movement in my head. From there, depending on the project, I either solidify the choreography or go straight into rehearsal and build specific movements with directors and performers. Throughout the process, I keep an eye out for where we might want to leave space for the beauty of ma (even if no one notices it).

Movement is a language I used when I didn’t speak English. At the time, communicating with others meant closely observing their movements and expressing myself through movement. Since then, I have always been very attentive to how people move through space and to how my body wants to move in certain emotional moments. Choreographing a play, musical, or any artistic project is about emphasizing and specifying everyday movements to highlight the emotion involved with those movements. It could be a subtle romantic exchange that outlines desire, desperation, and longing, or an ensemble flash mob that celebrates the excitement and thrill of breathing and moving in sync. Movement is another form of language that can support the words spoken by performers and deliver a story that cannot be communicated only with text.

As a choreographer and movement director, I love having fun and creating movements that let the dancers breathe and flow through their emotions. I acknowledge that everyone has a different relationship and accessibility to movement. I value developing each performer’s natural movements and working them into the choreography or storytelling. Mostly, I enjoy discovering and watching others discover the deep emotions felt through movement and the pure joy of dancing for and with a community.