Japanese pianist Koki Nakano today releases a new video, ‘Faire Le Poirer’, the latest in a string of choreographed dance films which are a companion to his latest album ‘Pre-Choreographed’, out now through Nø Førmat! (Oumou Sangaré, Mélissa Laveaux), streaming here. Directed by Benjamin Seroussi (Opening Ceremony, Benjamin Clementine), the new video features the dancing & choreography of Imre Van Opstal, from Tel Aviv’s prestigious Batsheva dance company, and America’s Ben Green. The video for ‘Faire Le Poirer’ – filmed in the Negev Desert besides a concrete sculpture created by Israeli artist Dani Caravan – is now streaming from here.
The powerful new clip – which Koki describes as “A moderate, peaceful resistance to our usual gravity” – is the final instalment in a series of specially commissioned, choreographed films to reflect Koki’s fascination with the world of dance. It follows the frenetic accompanying visual for ‘Train-Train’, choreographed by Damien Jalet and shot on location in an abandoned high-rise in Paris’ Banlieue area.
‘Pre-Choreographed’ itself is the continuation of the deep relationship Koki Nakano’s music maintains with dance. A pivotal moment for Nakano in the creation of the album was seeing Sara, a piece performed by the L-E-V dance company in front of the Nymphéas by Monet, at the Musée de l’Orangerie in Paris, which laid the foundations of the new album. “When I compose,” explains Nakano; “I keep images of bodies in a state of movement up in my head. They’re a great help to me when it comes to structuring each of my pieces, which develop as if they were responding to those movements.” And so, Koki’s album bears a title which speaks to a re-alignment of music & dance; “It reflects the keen sense of longing I feel for a time when the two disciplines were closely bound together, functioning jointly in society. It also means it’s as if the music is in a state of ‘waiting’ for, or even ‘lacking’, choreography.”
Hailing from Fukuoka Prefecture and later trained at both Japan’s prestigious Toho Gakuen music school and the Tokyo University of the Arts, Koki came to the attention of Nø Førmat! label founder Laurent Bizot when he performed at Tokyo’s Maison de la Culture in 2014. Bizot signed him on the spot – with Koki soon upping sticks to move permanently from Japan to France – continuing the label’s fondness for adventures with progressive pianists, begun back in 2004 when Nø Førmat! issued Chilly Gonzales’ pivotal ‘Solo Piano’.
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