Tenohira
Performance, 2018
8 minute individual performances performed for 36 audience members
the memory of confectionary store
a moon viewing ceremony
a salt ritual
A suite of three poetic gestures fold together into an intimate 8 minute performance for audiences of one that will be performed over and over again for each new audience member as a loop. Tenohira references writer Yasunari Kawabata’s palm-of-hand-story – a short story written on a single sheet of paper; often character driven with no plot and leaves the audience with a sense of longing or desire. In Tenohira (The Japanese word for palm), each audience member selects an object that ‘starts’ the performance allowing for the performer to navigate through a series of movements that explore ritual, story, and gift. Using intuition and gut impulse the audience member will experience their own unique variation of the same performance. The accumulation of the experience will be bundled up and gifted to the audience member, clearing the room for the next participant. Tenohira integrates object-based performance, taste, and story to investigate the language, silence, cultural memory and the actions of slowing down time.
Sound by Joelysa Pankanea
With performance assistance from Ron Siu and Francisco-Fernandos Granadas.
Photos Courtesy of 7a*11d Henry Chan
This performance was originally performed at 7a*11d International Performance Art Festival in Toronto, ON in 2018.