Art, dance, drums highlight this week’s JapanNYC events
March 15th, 2011 1:16 pm ET

The show must go on. With more than 65 events running citywide through April, this spring’s second part of Carnegie Hall’s JapanNYC festival celebrates the appeal of music and arts from today’s Japan, as selected by artistic director Seiji Ozawa.

“We have so many things to be proud of in Japan today,” Ozawa said in a statement made prior to the Sendai Earthquake and Tsunami. “I want you to see our culture—not from 50 or 30 years ago, but today.”

New York’s own Martha Graham Dance Company presents Isamu Noguchi and Martha Graham: A Legendary Combination over two nights at Jazz at Lincoln Center on Tuesday, March 17 and Sunday, March 20. Included in the program are Copland’s beloved Appalachian Spring; a 20th century retelling of Medea in Barber’s Cave of the Heart; and an erotic Adam and Eve tale of contemporary marriage in Surinach’s Embattled Garden.

Both nights feature choreography by Graham and set designs by Noguchi, whose namesake museum in Long Island City is celebrating its 25th anniversary with the exhibition On Becoming an Artist: Isamu Noguchi and his Contemporaries, 1922-1960, now on view through April 24. 

On Friday, March 18, Japan Society presents Bye Bye Kitty!! Between Heaven and Hell in Contemporary Japanese Art, on view at its gallery through June 12. Curated by David Elliott, founding director of Tokyo’s Mori Art Museum,this groundbreaking exhibition is a radical departure from recent Japanese exhibitions. Melding traditional themes with radical perceptions of the present, the sixteen artists represented here create uncompromising (and sometimes unsettling) works that challenge the social and political conditions of their times. The paintings, objects, photographs, videos and installations meld traditional styles with challenging visions of Japan’s troubled present and uncertain future. Featuring works from superstar artist Yoshitomo Nara, whose Nobody’s Foo exhibition at Asia Society wrapped earlier this year after a four-month run, 50% of all admission sales for Bye Bye Kitty!!! will go to Japan Society's Earthquake Relief Fund.

Elite taiko drum group Kodo arrives Sunday, March 20 at Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall as part of their One Earth Tour, celebrating their three decades together. Based on Sado Island, Niigata, Kodo strives to both preserve and reinterpret traditional Japanese performing arts, and incorporates other traditional Japanese musical instruments such as fue and shamisen in its live show along with traditional dance and vocal performances.

In Japanese, the word "Kodo" conveys two meanings: "heartbeat," the primal source of all rhythm, and, read in a different way, the word can mean "children of the drum," a reflection of Kodo's desire to play their drums simply, with the heart of a child. The venerated troupe has released nearly two dozen albums and has toured around the world.

Sums Ozawa, “I hope American audiences find something truly unique in these performances and events. That is my dream and hope.”

Bye Bye Kitty!!! runs at Japan Society Gallery, 333 East 47th Street (between First and Second Avenues) from March 18 through June 12. Admission is $15/$10 students and seniors/free for Japan Society members and children under 16. Admission is free to all on Friday nights, 6:00-9:00 p.m. Docent tours are available free with admission Tuesdays-Sundays at 12:30 p.m. (English), and Fridays at 6:00 p.m. (Japanese); no appointment necessary.For more information and gallery hours, click here.

The Martha Graham Dance Company presents Isamu Noguchi and Martha Graham: A Legendary Collaboration at the Rose Theater in Frederick P. Rose Hall, Broadway at 60th Street, for performances on Thursday, March 17 at 8:00 p.m. and Sunday, March 20 at 3:00 p.m. Tickets are $48-$133. For more information, click here.

On Becoming an Artist: Isamu Noguchi and His Contemporaries, 1922-1960 is on view through April 24 at the Noguchi Museum, 9-01 33rd Road (at Vernon Boulevard), Long Island City. Admission is $10 general, $5 senior citizens and students with a valid ID. For more details and gallery hours, click here.

Kodo performs at Avery Fisher Hall, 10 Lincoln Center Plaza at West 65th Street, on Sunday, March 20 at 7:00 p.m. Tickets are $40-$75. For more information, click here.

For a complete listing of JapanNYC events and performances, visit Carnegie Hall’s homepage.