A new project from Newcastle’s Surface Area Dance Company will celebrate the city's historical links with Japan which go back to the 1870s.
Project Godie is a multi-platform heritage programme that will take audiences on a journey through Anglo-Japanese history, celebrating the North East's strong links with Japan through dance, music, film and literature and beginning with a Butoh performance on Friday 12 and Saturday 13 August at All Saints' Church on Lower Pilgrim Street in Newcastle.
"It is widely acknowledged,” said Surface Area’s Creative Director Nicole Vivien Watson, “that the region has experienced cultural and commercial exchanges with Japan, the beginnings of which can be found geographically on the banks of the River Tyne in Elswick through its shipbuilding heritage. And the legacy we see today is the region's strong business relations with Japan."
Five of the Japanese nationals involved in the shipbuilding are buried in St John’s Cemetery in the city and in Sunderland, just ten miles away, is the grave of a 15-month old Japanese boy, the son of two performers in Tannaker's Japanese, an acrobatic troupe who brought their version of Japanese culture to the North East in the 1870s. The child, “Little Godie”, gives the project its name.
As co-producer Adam Denton said,"The fact that there was so much cultural exchange taking place is something we want to share with audiences today, investigating a heritage that is relevant but sadly long-forgotten."
Funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, Project Godie will take a multi-disciplinary approach, opening with a Butoh performance, improv sonic performance, archive exhibits, writing and an interactive website to encourage community engagement.
Watson sees Butoh as central to the project. She has commissioned international Butoh artist Vangeline and will focus on the political dimension of the form. Originally inspired by the Hiroshima tragedy that made the "unimaginable imaginable", Butoh will now be used as a vehicle to delve into a forgotten chapter of industrial history on Tyneside and its contribution to international military action.
Additionally, community groups Search and St James Culture and Heritage Centre in the Elswick area of Newcastle will also take part in a range of events including writing and movement workshops and activities at the local Scotswood Natural Community Garden.
Tickets for the opening event are £8 (£6 concessions).