John Moran and Saori Tsukada: 2005-2011
In 2005, Moran began to work exclusively with Japanese-born dancer Saori Tsukada, who in numerous reviews was described as a performer of unusual precision and stage presence. It was said that after seeing Tsukada from a distance on the street one afternoon, the composer knew the two strangers were "meant" to work together, and waited for her to return during a power outage.
This seems to have marked a shift in subject matter for Moran, who then began to appear in his works as himself, often telling highly personal stories about his bizarre life, and describing (in artistic terms) an "obsession" with his then next-door-neighbor, Tsukada. In numerous articles Tsukada has been described as Moran's "muse". In Tsukada's description, "If I am the disciplined Japanese girl, then he is the picture of what people think of as a tortured artist.".
Their collaborations, under the title John Moran...and his neighbor, Saori seemed to see immediate critical success. In addition to relocating their work to Europe sometime around 2007, Moran and Tsukada premiered several music, dance and theatre works throughout the period of 2005-2010, all of which featured Tsukada and Moran portraying autobiographical representations of themselves. Their work John Moran...and his neighbour, Saori saw much European touring since 2005. The Guardian UK described the piece as "a work with genius as its foundation." and The New York Times cited their work as "one of the most important and innovative dance collaborations of the year", in 2007. The two performed frequently at venues such as Edinburgh Fringe, Dublin Fringe, Amsterdam Fringe, The Arches, Soho Theatre in London, as well as other theatrical venues across UK, Germany, Israel and Poland.
In 2010, Moran and Tsukada debuted their work, John Moran and Saori (in Thailand). Its crediting sited joint production between The Arches, in Glasgow, Scotland and Pumpenhaus in Münster, Germany. The work received praise internationally, and toured extensively throughout Europe, UK and United States over 2010-11. Moran apparently then created a solo-version of the work, which was performed at venues throughout Poland, toward the end of 2011.
Other works by Moran and Tsukada include Saori's Birthday! (2007), commissioned by Performance Space 122 in New York City, and which in addition to Tsuakda featured performance artists Joseph Keckler and Katherine Brook, and a somewhat minor work titled Zenith 5! which played at The Spiegeltent in New York in 2006.
Read more about this topic: John Moran (composer)