In gesture and glance
A tantalising tour of Asia - By Nadine Meisner for The Independent

It might have been a tourist's tour of Asia, but for those of us unable to live with the locals, it was a tantalising glimpse. A programme of solos covering four separate traditions of Asian dance and theatre (the two are often undifferentiated), it was put together by the Japan Foundation to tour internationally.

In London, it deserved a bigger audience. What was appealing was not just the excellence of the performances, but their unfamiliarity. We see a great deal of Indian classical dance in London, but not the folk style known as chhau. Nor do we see much of the dance of Java or Japan; or of China's yueju opera, performed exclusively by women and established in the 1930s, when female performers became acceptable.

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