TOKYO SUMMER FESTIVAL : ARION-EDO FOUNDATION

The 19th Tokyo Summer Festival 2003
"RITUAL, NATURE, AND MUSIC"

For tens of thousands of years, our ancestors lived on earth much as the other creatures with which they lived in harmony. It was when they began to make imprints on the natural world that they became "people", and as civilization flourished, their distance with nature increased.
The rituals which have been taking place in sundry regions around the world since ancient times can be said to be a sort of homage paid by humans calling out to nature itself as well as being a bridge back to the womb: holding dialogue with it, and recalling their unseverable ties with it in a way human wisdom cannot begin to fathom. In such rituals, the adoration of the workings of nature and fear of the gods is innate; rich in concept.
At the same time, rituals have strengthened bonds among members of the communities which birthed them and provided energy and healing to those who encounter them.
Cries and songs and beating of instruments, gesticulations and dance -- these are all creations churning forth from the fountainhead of life, making utterances unto the creatures who do not comprehend human language, while resonating with the sun, the moon, and the stars. The energy it emanates slowly transfigures; at times becoming a prayer, getting a glimpse of the supernatural, then becoming One with that which is beyond human understanding.
In such ways, ritual-nature-music have since early times been intimately interconnected with each other while being deeply rooted in the daily lives of the people. How do these diverse traditions which have sprung forth from this nexus relate to our lives today, and what capacities do they endow us with?
Hear the Japanese drums reverberating with the natural spirits... Experience the result of the encounter of folk religions with foreign ones: as they clash with one another, they metamorphose into the ceremonies of divergent world cultures... See Chandralekha and her dancers presenting a stage performance as the pinnacle of primeval energy. We hope you come in contact with the power found in ritual and music.