Take a breath and look right and left for yourself.

MIYAGI Satoshi

People might say a signal’s changed to green, but you would still be wise to take a breath and look right and left before you follow them.

In today’s world, negative feelings seem to overpower all others. Also, if many people express sympathy for an issue or a person, anyone not sharing that feeling is often branded as wrong or uncaring, or worse. Similarly, once a negative feeling — such as “we could never accept that” — becomes the majority’s point of view, it is automatically justified and those who disagree are excluded from the community.

Humans’ feelings are very complicated. They are also distinct from logical thinking, and logic is generally unable to control those feelings. That’s especially the case with negative feelings, as it’s almost impossible for a person to control those through logical interpretation. For example, people can’t just stop feeling jealous even though it may be silly from a logical viewpoint.
In other words, nobody can judge whether another person’s feelings are right or wrong — or silly or not.
The same goes for negative feelings, which everyone has at some time. They also tend to spread easily and may forge powerful bonds between people.

For that reason, displays of negative feelings are generally frowned on by society as they can disturb the peace through demonstrations and suchlike.
Yet in today’s world many politicians actively stir up negative feelings and use them as part of their political strategy. In some cases they may even believe it’s the right thing to do to overturn vested interests, for example, so they embrace such so-called populist tactics.
It worries me not only that negative feelings are widespread these days — but that society doesn’t tolerate people with different opinions. As a result, individuals tend to control themselves so they appear to conform with the majority and avoid any conflict. However, the massive power of all that negative feeling can readily lead to violence.

I believe that’s why theatre and/or dance have been useful as ways of defusing those tendencies since at least the times of Ancient Greece. That’s because when people witness emotional and sometimes violent actions in a play or dance, they feel a sense of catharsis. In addition, they may realize the stupidity of such behavior and hopefully reject it for themselves.
However, when negative feelings spread, and dangerous situations arise, some people may take that as a green signal for social unrest. Many artists, though, will regard the same conditions as sounding an alarm and they will strive to counter them through their theater or dance work. So, though people may say a signal has changed to green, you really need to take a breath and look right and left yourself.

Shizuoka Performing Arts Center (SPAC) will hold its annual World Theatre Festival Shizuoka 2019 from April 27 to May 6, coinciding as usual with the national Golden Week holiday. In line with its slogan of “Fujinokuni (The Mt. Fuji region) and the world are connected through the performing arts,” SPAC will introduce a wide range of cutting-edge theatre programs from Japan and abroad at venues in Shizuoka City and the surrounding, wonderfully scenic area. SPAC will also host its Open-air Performing Arts Festival under Mt. Fuji 2019 in the city’s central Sumpujo Park during the same period. In addition, this festival also features STRANGE SEED, which is to be held from May 3 to May 6, comprising a wide range of fringe arts events being held around the city in cooperation with Shizuoka City’s major project ON STAGE SHIZUOKA. Meanwhile, in the popular nedoco Project for Everyone, guest accommodation facilities run by volunteers will again be open during the festival period. In a nutshell, SPAC aims to present a joyous and inspiring the festival that remains deeply rooted in its home region of Shizuoka while also connecting to the wider world through theatre.

SPAC was founded in 1995 by the Shizuoka prefectural government and commenced its full-fledged activities in 1997 under the direction of SUZUKI Tadashi, its first General Artistic Director. As a pioneer of publicly funded performing-arts organizations in Japan, SPAC retains its own staff of actors, technical and production staff, who are based at its own venues and facilities. The mission of SPAC is not only to create original pieces, but also to invite progressive artistic companies and creators to Shizuoka and to develop human resources seeking expression through the performing arts. Since April 2007, when he was appointed as the General Artistic Director, MIYAGI Satoshi has led SPAC in a buoyant new phase of development and expansion.