Tikkurila treated to Japanese dance art
Laurea’s partner institution, TFU, brought a dance group performance to Finland.
Laurea has cooperated for more than a decade with Tohoku Fukushi University (TFU) from Japan. In August, the fruits of this cooperation could be enjoyed in Finland, when TFU brought its dance group for a tour of the country with its performance BENIBANA – The Flowering Spirit. A collaborative production, the performance also involved Tohoku University and Regional Theater I’Ms.
The performance, combining Japanese poetry and dance art, was put on at Tikkurila Theatre in Vantaa, the Emil Cedercreutz Museum in Harjavalta and Promenadi Hall in Pori. The Finnish tour was part of the 100th anniversary celebrations of diplomatic relations between Japan and Finland.
The seven-strong dance troupe was headed by Professor Miki Kowa, of Tohoku Fukushi University. The dancers were accompanied in Finland by their own light and sound technicians.
In addition to dance and haiku poetry, the performance staged in Finland highlighted silk fabrics dyed with safflower using the Benibana technique.
- This is a very traditional form of art in the Tohoku region. The goal of the performance is to bring out the beauty of safflowers, explains Professor Miki Kowa, the leader of the group.
The group has been performing the Benibana show for five years.
- The performance starts off slowly, gaining momentum towards the finale, when the flowers break out into full, colourful bloom, he describes.
Read more about the cooperation between Tohoku Fukushi University and Laurea in the latest issue of Laurea Forerunner magazine.