In a fast field of tractors and heavy-duty machines, a person is walking. No, a person is dancing accompanied by a tender piano melody. Arms twisting, body shifting in a choreography resistant and fragile at the same time. It is the dancer Amala Dianor who collaborated with the Japanese artist Koki Nakano for his latest project. Near-Perfect Synchronization is the second single off the musician’s forthcoming record Pre-Choreographed, which is due in April. Having studied at the Tokio University of Arts, Koki Nakano found inspiration in modern dance and aims to combine the two forms of art to one.
Choreographed
‘Recently’, he says his compositions are ‘directly influenced by works of choreographers.’ In the movements of the bodies of contemporary dancers, much of the minimalistic elegance that his music bears is reflected. He uses these movements of the body, the flexing muscles and the stretching limbs as inspiration for his weightless compositions. ‘For some pieces, I have started to compose by choreographing with my ten fingers.’
‘Dance and music can preserve every layer of complexity of our emotions as they are, thanks to the degree of abstraction, which those art forms originally have.’
Koki Nakano ties dance and music so closely together that they do really move along in a nearly perfect synchronization. Inspired by certain choreographers, the artist wished to work with, he wrote the tracks that ended up on Pre-Choreographed with that in mind. Yet, when it came to shooting the music video to Near-Perfect Synchronization the musician let the dancers run free and interpret the music on their own. ‘I shared my inspirations with the director, but I didn’t give any directions to the dancers.’
Towards the End of the World
Expressing emotion through dance and music are two forms of art very close to the human nature. The video to the track sees them combined in an unlikely setting. Dancing his tender choreography Amala Dianor is standing amidst a massive park of heavy machinery. The sharp edges and heavy bodies of the trucks transport an even violent feeling compared to the smooth movements of the dancer. When writing the song, Koki Nakano found himself inspired by the ‘image of a couple walking towards somewhere extreme on earth, without ever looking at each other. Despite the hard situation, they are calm and determined to walk to their final destination.’
This contrast between calm serenity and harsh surroundings is why the musician chose the setting for the video. Directed by Benjamin Seroussi, the clip was shot in Paris before an auction for heavy machinery.
‘I needed to have an extremely hard landscape for this piece, to emphasize the strength of the will or love of humans. Our presence, our emotion itself are very vulnerable and fragile, but it can also last an eternity thanks to the strength of will or love.’
In Perfect Synchronization
With the title of the single, Koki Nakano implies that even though something can be in near perfect synchronization, it can never quite be perfect. That just makes sense, as humans, ‘we are all existences that have been thrown into this world within the limits of our own body’. Yet, we ache to feel close, to feel synchronized with other human beings making the eternal condition of the loneliness within our mind and skull easier to bear. But, the artist recognized that however much we wish to feel the perfect connection, ‘the best feeling we can eventually have will be Near-Perfect Synchronization in reality.’
‘I believe that Art is the only possibility to have or to be illusioned to have ‘Perfect Synchronization’ with other people or with this world. Music and dance are simply two sides of one phenomenon. We can’t make any sounds without moving our body. Music and dance can possibly have ‘Perfect Synchronization’.
Pre-Choreographed will be out 24th of April via No Format!