The light journey of Iimuro Naoki

TUOI TRE 
Updated : Thu, June 9, 2011,9:00 AM (GMT+0700)
Japanese mime artist Iimuro Naoki put on a solo show, “A time of pantomime,” at the Young World Theatre Tuesday night in Ho Chi Minh City.
He talked to Tuoitre about his inspiration and a career that has brought him around the world.
Why did you choose Ho Chi Minh City to perform this time?
I performed last year in Hanoi and the Hue Festival, where I was so moved by the audience’s warm reception. I then decided I had to come back to this country every year, especially now when Vietnamese have joined hands to help us through the recent disaster.
The show in Ho Chi Minh City was a way to show my thankfulness.
Is pantomime an obstacle for the artist and audience to deliver and receive the play’s messages?
No, I think it is the other way around. There are facial expressions, body movements and the development of space and image in them that sometimes words can never express. Body language is an interesting aspect of this form of art. I have performed mime for 20 years and my audience always understands what I am saying.
Where does your inspiration come from?
From my life. Some are my own experiences, some are from my observations when I listen to everything around me, and some come from a distant dream. For example “A Life of Frog” was inspired by my questions back when I was a child. A frog starts his life breaking from an egg, then becomes a tadpole which later has hands and legs. I used to wonder what the tadpole thinks and whether it is happy to have hands and legs now.
To me, questions are the start of creativity.
You travel the world to perform mime. What feelings does that journey bring you?
Just like the frog, I went through a maturation process and developed my passion through all the lands I have been to. It is a light journey. I mean I don’t bring many things when I travel to places to perform.
I don’t want to be dependent on a bag carrying all of my stuff which if I forget or lose, I can’t concentrate on my work. I am a frog who seldom speaks and really focuses.
Naoki will have another show in Ho Chi Minh City at the Young World Theater tonight and in Hanoi at the Youth Theater on June 10 and 11.
While tickets in Hanoi are available at the Japan Foundation Center for Cultural Exchange in Vietnam (27 Quang Trung street, Hoan Kiem District), admission will be free in HCMC.
Naoki, who graduated with a top position from the International School of Pantomime in Paris and the French National School of Music, Dance and Drama Art, has won numerous awards in Japan and overseas.
“A Time of Pantomime” will feature several of his works like “Fly,” “Angel,” “Escape,” “New Employee,” “A World in Balance,” and “Universe Inside a Glass.”
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