SO much has happened in the last couple of weeks! First the whole experience of going to Tokyo and finally performing after 5 weeks of creation and preparation - it was intense!
For me, this was mostly about learning and practicing different aspects of professionalism - having a certain discipline, managing my time, energy and expectations, working together and communicating better as a team, accepting criticism and finally, actually building bridges with a real audience each performance. I think we all had to dig deeper and find ways to assimilate it all. After the criticism of our 5th show I felt flat but didn't have much time to actually digest what had happened before our final performance. The only response I could do in the moment was to let go of some of the unnecessary effort I'd put into earlier shows, and trust that maybe something more authentic would come through. In the end I believe it did, though it took several days back in Nishiwaga to feel confident about all this and ready to move on.
Originally I thought we might lose momentum with the long break between Tokyo and Sendai, but I see now we really needed this. In Nishiwaga the weather turned cold but was even more beautiful as the Fall colors deepened, the supermoon we had in Tokyo waned, and we had much time to reflect and talk at the onsen, and many goodbyes to the people of Nishiwaga who have welcomed us so warmly. Its been a week to integrate and gather our energy for these last days in Sendai, all of us now feeling how our time together is about to come to an end. So after a stunning drive through the mountains and a dreamlike soak at the wind-blown sulphur springs we are now back in Sendai where I first met Shigemi Iida and Ruiko Chiba back on Sept. 3rd. I'm glad we have a New Moon for our last performance together, a good time to seed our vision for how to build upon this whole experience once we each head home...
(Johnny)
