Selection of Japanese Performances
From February 2021, the Japan Foundation (JF) has started the project “STAGE BEYOND BORDERS—Selection of Japanese Performances,” which presents outstanding Japanese stage performances online for people throughout the world who are seeking opportunities to enjoy Japanese stage performances amid the spread of COVID-19.
More than a year has passed since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, theater festivals worldwide have been canceled, artists have lost their performing venues and people can no longer visit theaters like in the past. At the same time, however, an increase in virtual interactions via the Internet has also created more opportunities for sharing moving experiences and excitement in real time with people in distant locations. Performing arts is one of the earliest forms of entertainment that through strangers and various environments stirs the imagination about ongoing stories and provides hopes and hints about the real world. The Japan Foundation’s online project “STAGE BEYOND BORDERS—Selection of Japanese Performances” is expected to encourage hope for all people who enjoy performing arts by presenting outstanding Japanese stage performances beyond borders in multiple languages.
The Japan Foundation hopes to cultivate new fan bases for performing arts and also approach theater professionals in order to hold performances at overseas theaters once interactions among people are allowed to resume.
The works distributed through this project span the three genres of contemporary theater, dance performance and traditional performing arts. These performances have multilingual subtitles in around five languages and can be viewed free of charge on the Japan Foundation’s official YouTube channel. In addition, new limited release performances exclusively for this project will also be available for viewing.
≫The Japan Foundation official YouTube channel
