Booklaunch Scenekunstklassikere no. 7

Welcome to the book launch of Scenekunstklassiker #7: “71bodies: In First Person – The Dance” by Mariko Miyata-Jancey

I remember us as close – audience to each other, and us in the audience to Daniel on stage. I remember feeling as though I could reach out my hand if I wanted to, to touch Daniel’s naked body. He is wearing a mask, a mask with human features – naturalistic, and therefore all the more alienating. But I experience that as Daniel dances, moves, and speaks his way through the first part of the performance, the fact that his face is covered by the mask instead becomes something that invites – and opens up – a sense of being unselfconsciously present with his body. For when I cannot see his face, it becomes less intimidating to truly be together with the naked body. I can be the gazer, the observer, shamelessly getting to know this body that exists beyond the binary bodies I have known before.

For Scenekunstklassiker #7, Mariko Miyata-Jancey writes about the performance In First Person – The Dance, created and performed by Daniel Mariblanca’s dance and performance company, 71bodies. She writes about the performance as she remembers it from when it was staged during Oktoberdans in the autumn of 2020, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, and delves into why – and in what ways – this performance still lives within her.

● Mariko Miyata-Jancey is a Japanese-Norwegian interdisciplinary artist. Her projects range from children’s books to experimental dance performances. Throughout her career, she has explored different aspects of human existence, such as identity, sexuality, motherhood, and love.

The Scenekunstklassikere book series brings performances from our shared performing arts history into the spotlight, allowing them to be discussed and retold by different authors. Each book is a subjective argument for why this particular performance is memorable and deserves attention: why, for the author, this performance is a classic.