Mime-Dance with Noriko Yamamoto

video process and collaboration for What Luck!

Hello friends,

Before we talk video process, I wanted to share a run of solo shows in the East-Coast of Canada that are fast approaching. If you live there or have any friends, spread the word. Information on venues/times/line-ups are still incoming, but for now, you can mark your calendar. Feel free to send a message my way if you want more details and you can stay updated for show announcements on instagram @lukakuplowsky

AUG 8  FREDERICTON, NB (Abbey Cafe)

AUG 10 TATAMAGOUCHE, NS  (DM for details, afternoon show)

AUG 16 LAHAVE, NS (West Dublin Hall)

AUG 17 DARTMOUTH, NS (The Sanctuary) 

AUG 23 SACKVILLE, NB (Chalkfest, afternoon show)

As well, in September I will be playing with the full band at the Guelph Jazz Festival - you can pick up tickets here

Now, let’s begin with Noriko.

I first saw Noriko perform in the spring of 2023 at a book launch for my brother Adam’s translations of Vasily Eroshenko (you should read it, it’s incredible!) Noriko performed a mime interpretation of Eroshenko’s short story By A Pond and brought it to life with such expressiveness and vitality. The way she embodied simple gestures and repetitions of movement felt so electric, so revelatory.

I was so struck by her performance that I knew I wanted to collaborate. I wasn’t sure on what, but I felt an immediate kinship.

In the fall of the next year, I had been spending time at York University’s 16mm collection and the figure of the mime kept occurring when screening materials: a lost student film of Jeanne Becker performing mime; André Soubeyran's performance in Kenneth Anger's Rabbit's Moon. Each time, I was reminded of Noriko.

With the album finally set for release in May, I started a process of creating visual accompaniments for the singles. While the videos for How Can I Possibly Sleep and Fugitive Song arose without preconception (playful experiments with the camera that I ended up later realizing were music videos), What Luck! was a clear image in my head that I felt the need to express.

I had a vision in my head of Noriko dancing with a spotlight to the song. The deep dark black environment, a spotlight traversing the scene and the expressions of wonder, surprise, desire and intoxication. I wanted to make something that was both a literal embodiment of Ryokan’s discovery of a coin, but that also responded and embodied the fluidity and interplay of the band’s performance.

After a class with Phil Hoffman, I played him the song and described my idea. He encouraged me to shoot it on film, sensing that the organic and low resonance of the sounds would find some kinship with the high contrast and textures of film.

I reached out to Noriko and she was open to collaborating. I was thrilled! She was about to head off to Japan for a gallery performance, but we planned a date for when she got back.

As the shoot approached, I contacted my dear friend Pierce Desrochers O’Sullivan to assist in lighting. We have been friends since high school and collaborated on a number of videos throughout the years (you can check some out here and here). He’s not only an expert film technician, but also a creative artist, so I was confident he could not only light it, but that he would understand the light as its own character within the film.

While I had imagined myself filming it, in the week leading up to the shoot, I felt unsure. I had only used a Bolex once before and felt the technical matters would distract me from coordinating the lights and working with Noriko. I reached out to another dear friend and collaborator Colin Medley and he agreed to hop on. How glad I was! He not only brought a greater knowledge of using the Bolex but is also such an intuitively smart DOP, reacting and responding to Noriko as he filmed with such deftness and style.

A few days before I picked up two rolls Kodak 7222 double x negative film, borrowed a camera from school and rented a studio room.

The day of the shoot, Pierce, Colin and I arrived early to set up the room. Pierce improvised a lighting rig and Colin loaded the Bolex. Noriko arrived with her husband Gerry Kumagi. Gerry turned out to be an unexpected and indispensable part of the shoot, not only for his great energy, but also in assisting Pierce on the 20ft ladder adjusting the spotlight.

While I had written a script for Noriko, it was always meant as a loose direction for the performance. While I described certain events, movements or emotions, I wanted Noriko to interrupt or distract from the script by also responding to the performance of the song, as well as Pierce’s dancing spotlight.

With the constraints of the hand cranked Bolex only recording 30-40 seconds at a time, we divided the performance into short sections. I would discuss each section with Noriko and then as we rolled the camera would call out to Colin and Pierce to signal camera movements or lighting cues. Eventually we got into flow where Colin and Pierce started improvising within the general parameters we had set up.

Noriko was incredible, remaining present and relaxed the whole time (even under the extreme heat of the spotlight). The words of the script fail to capture the moment to moment expressiveness of her performance. We started from an idea, but Noriko brought it into life and relation with the music, the light, the camera and all of us in the room. How special!

Following the shoot, I dropped the film off at Niagara Custom Lab for processing and CineMobilia digitized it for me to edit. My partner Mo then hand wrote the titles for the video.

I’m so fortunate to work with Noriko, and Pierce, and Colin, and Gerry and Mo. And how I love this video that came out of the collaboration.

I also look forward to sharing the live performance of our album release show at a later date, where we not only played alongside the video live, but Noriko joined us to perform mime-dance for four other songs as well.

To learn more about Noriko’s creativity and history, check out a great interview from 2021 here
You can also check out excerpts of some of her past work here
Below are also a few of her artworks.

Warm regards,
Luka Kuplowsky

PS.Whenever I share one of these entries I’ll give you a window into the moment of writing –more specifically, the food/drink/music/film that has filled this specific day.

Listening to Pahadu Dhun (Hariprasad Chaurasia) & Last Night the Moon Came Dropping Its Clothes in the Street (Jon Hassell)

Drinking chamomile tea.

I’ve been watching lots of Norman McLaren. La Poulette Grise may be one of the greatest animated films of all time.