April 21st, 2015.Our last night in Kadoyde, Japan. To celebrate the end of our stay, Kobayashi, our host prepares yet another surprise. A sky lantern. He holds the large paper lantern while someone lit the fire beneath it.
For a few seconds, all seems well. Then slowly, the lantern catches fire, and its shape disappears while its spirit emerges.
This reminded me of Constantin Brancusi, the Romanian sculptor and his view on capturing the essence of things.
"When you see a fish you don't think of its scales, do you? You think of its speed, its floating, flashing body seen through the water... If I made fins and eyes and scales, I would arrest its movement, give a pattern or shape of reality. I want just the flash of its spirit"
And if it's the essence of the fire dance we are after, there is no need to look further than de Falla's 'Ritual fire dance' who does it with sounds rather than images.
Fire dance #1, lighting the lantern
Fire dance #7, The end
and a colored version ...Fire dance #3 by Amy Kanka Valadarsky