Clerke and Joy
'The Water's Edge is a perfect example of why we get excited about going to see student work. It's unusual to see something that is so simultaneously delicate and brutal, beautiful and frank. As the crab is excavated, the recorded stories pull us into the place it comes from. Than and Akitsu's performance is considered and methodical, allowing the smell, sound, visuals prominence whilst holding our attention with their concentration. Theirs is obviously an incredibly rich collaboration and we have no hesitation in recommending their work.'
'The Water's Edge is a perfect example of why we get excited about going to see student work. It's unusual to see something that is so simultaneously delicate and brutal, beautiful and frank. As the crab is excavated, the recorded stories pull us into the place it comes from. Than and Akitsu's performance is considered and methodical, allowing the smell, sound, visuals prominence whilst holding our attention with their concentration. Theirs is obviously an incredibly rich collaboration and we have no hesitation in recommending their work.'
Extract from Jessica Norgard's essay Does contemporary theatre challenge the current dominance of visual perception in Western society?
'The first thing to hit me as I entered the performance space was the smell of fresh crab. Despite being in a performance studio, I smelt the sea which flooded me with evocative memories, it reminded me of nature; a fresh smell in an old space. My mouth was watering in anticipation.
'YaMa’s 2014 performance, Water’s Edge, created an environment of presence and participation as the performance resulted in the audience sharing the crab meat they had watched being prepared by two performers over its thirty-minute duration. In this journey of preparation the performers become facilitators of a sensory experience, the performance no longer revolves around watching them. The audience are supported and engaged through this sensory world manifested by the performers, in this way they are relating through the sensory stimulation that they share.
Through the olfactory and gustatory senses this performance became a part of the audience’s and performers bodies, creating a depth of equality and community between the two. The multi-sensory environment dilutes the power of the visual, finding a more shared sensory experience through the shared ecology of the performance space. Together the audience and performers smell the crab, hear the sounds of its preparation, and finally taste it. It is almost as though the audience are eating the creativity and imagination of the performance, thereby assimilating and integrating it into their very being. Instead of being visually distancing and placating the body, the performance literally gives energy to the body. It becomes a part of the inner self, the inner knowing; it is a way of relating the outer world to the inner world'
Jessica Norgard (Audience member)
'YaMa’s 2014 performance, Water’s Edge, created an environment of presence and participation as the performance resulted in the audience sharing the crab meat they had watched being prepared by two performers over its thirty-minute duration. In this journey of preparation the performers become facilitators of a sensory experience, the performance no longer revolves around watching them. The audience are supported and engaged through this sensory world manifested by the performers, in this way they are relating through the sensory stimulation that they share.
Through the olfactory and gustatory senses this performance became a part of the audience’s and performers bodies, creating a depth of equality and community between the two. The multi-sensory environment dilutes the power of the visual, finding a more shared sensory experience through the shared ecology of the performance space. Together the audience and performers smell the crab, hear the sounds of its preparation, and finally taste it. It is almost as though the audience are eating the creativity and imagination of the performance, thereby assimilating and integrating it into their very being. Instead of being visually distancing and placating the body, the performance literally gives energy to the body. It becomes a part of the inner self, the inner knowing; it is a way of relating the outer world to the inner world'
Jessica Norgard (Audience member)