I know everyone is dying for news of the 2012 festival. We have been hanging on to see if Kinoko is available this year but plans to open a new club mean he is unable to commit. However, the latest from him during his classes in Rome is that he will do all he can to make it. Anyway, it looks very much as if Kazami Ranki will be attending the festival again and hopefully doing more teaching after his very successful and inspiring master classes in London recently.
We are trying to get hold of Naka Akira and I hear Kanna is “very, very interested”. Due to the costs likely to be involved, it will be a case of either/or. Whichever of the two isn’t invited this year will be asked for next year, unless fate smiles on us and makes both possible in addition to Kazami.
Naka Akira seems to be one of the acclaimed and traditional nawashi. I was certainly amongst many blown away by his Toubaku show. Kanna is probably the most direct disciple of Akechi and inspired both Kinoko and Osada. So, a tough choice if it comes to it. NuitDeTokyo, my ‘Man in Japan’, tells me that Naka Akira has does not teach…so far. However, he is making enquiries. I’m also told Kazami and Kanna are good buddies, so they might make a good pairing. Anyway, we await information on their availability. Hopefully, we can plan for September but we can be flexible to accommodate our Japanese visitors if need be.
As for non-Japanese stars, the choice is getting tougher and tougher; there are so many 1st class riggers now. This year, we plan to get more on stage as they got a bit neglected last year due to the heavy Japanese bias. We welcome applications for performers and educators. So, if you want to take to the stage or host a class, get your applications in to: bruce@esinem.com. Please include a brief CV showing your experience. For performers that I haven’t already seen perform, it would be good to see video as there is a BIG difference between performing and demonstrating 😉
So far, Mark Yu (USA), WykD_Dave (UK), Zamil (Germany), Riccardo Wildties (Italy), Andrea Ropes (Italy) and a host of others have all expressed an interest so you can expect a great line up. I shall be talent spotting at RopeFest in Russia as their rope scene is developing fast.
Tickets will sell out again even faster than last year as the festival’s fame has spread. We are hoping to get a bit more space but the Resistance Gallery is a small intimate venue so tickets will be limited.