The performance actually began before the audience was allowed into the auditorium (and without even realizing it). An unobtrusive man in civil clothes was moving around the bar, approaching people waiting for a drink or chatting with friends and he addressed them in English: "I know you, we have met before! Your face is familiar... ". And then he left before the confused "friend" could remember. Only half way through the performance did the audience realize it was part of the game and the man was Félix Duméril. When the audience could finally enter the auditorium, three performers were already on the stage, each fully immersed in their work: a woman in an apron kneading the dough for a pie, a young man played a game on an imaginary Gameboy and a girl paced the stage. After the choreographer’s entrance the door closed and daily activities were replaced by a fairytale dream. The narrator and the main protagonist of these stories was a dancer Misato Inoue, who transformed herself into different characters while she was telling stories in Japanese that always began the same way: "Mukashi Mukashi" or "There once was a...”.
The first story was a spectacular Red Riding Hood. A girl ran through a mysterious forest, which was visualized by a projection, trying to escape three red ghosts. The scene was successful thanks to the idea of cut canvas, through which the dancers moved and behind which they could hide. A dynamic chase scene through this “climbing frame” achieved a more plastic dimension. When the Little Red Riding Hood was caught and stripped of her red jacket (and thus from the character), the projection began to change and dresses were falling on the stage, from which the girl should choose her next character.
Meanwhile, the audience's attention shifted to Felix Dumeril and Pamela Monreale impersonating an African tale about a red feather. A poor hunter had no luck in hunting and he and his wife suffered from hunger. One day the hunter met a charming red bird that gave him one of his feathers. By its boiling 
the couple had a hearty dinner. This was not enough for the woman, so she killed the bird, whose feathers lost the charm after its death. The dancer seemed harsh and animalistic and the feather cooking scene, during which she had her head in a pot most of the time, was truly original. Another of her features was a cigarette that dangled from the corner of her mouth almost during the whole performance. She smoked one after another even during dancing and in demanding partnerwork, which often evoked surprised laughter in the audience. The top performance of Pamela Monreale, and certainly the funniest scenes of the show, was her description of "cooking of fairy tales" in the role of a witch. With her deep voice she began to tell the recipe for a mysterious potion which, naturally, included toads and similar delicacies, and ended with a criticism of sugary fairy tales for children, in which only completely useless princes perform. They would only keep kissing someone, they overdo fight scenes and all of them wear leggings! Dancers accompanied her in different variations as if from Swan Lake performed by Les Ballets Trocadero de Monte Carlo and the spectators shrieked with laughter.
Among the tales also less fantastic scenes appeared, such as a video of artists contemplating over the hidden meaning of fairy tales, which were not without witty remarks (during which we learned that Little Red’s grandmother was probably an alcoholic, if her granddaughter had to bring wine...). Other time we found ourselves in the Museum of fairy tales, where the guide pointed us to specimens like Cinderella's slipper, the apple that poisoned Snow White and so on. All guaranteed originals.
Returning to fairy tale was the last scene of the Sleeping Beauty and two princes who were really quite useless. They tried every possible way to wake up the sleeping princess, they passed her on differently, pulled her along the stage with her long skirt and otherwise manipulated her, but they didn’t wake her up from her sleep. Instead, they fell asleep themselves next to her.
The whole performance was very dynamic and playful, each artist had a distinct character with a characteristic expression that caught the audience. Misato Inoue was literally magical in the character of Little Red Riding Hood and a guide, Pamela Monreale impersonated a rough witch with a charm. Even dancers Félix Duméril and Michel Pascault kept up with their movement parts and cute distracted acting. In their dancing the classical foundation was recognizable, but the choreography was in a purely contemporary spirit, often with interesting partnerwork. The sophisticated but unobtrusive projection and musical collage were also functional in the performance. Mukashi Mukashi impresses with its aesthetics and entertains a large audience.
Written from a performance of 29th July 2013 in Roxy/NoD.
Mukashi Mukashi
Choreography: Misato Inoue & Félix Duméril in collaboration with the dancers
Dancers: Misato Inoue, Félix Duméril, Pamela Monreale, Michel Pascault
Music: Simon Ho
Music editor: Tobias Zürcher
Scene: Jann Messerli / Sara Weingart
Costumes: Kathy Brunner
Dramaturgy: Bettina Fischer
Concept: Misato Inoue, Félix Duméril, Bettina Fischer
Photography: Christian Glaus
Video design: Peter Aerschmann
Josef Bartos
Thank you for your thoughts. One got stuck in my mind – that passion makes us different from AI. Just yesterday I read…I am a dance critic. I am a member of an endangered species