Post by account_disabled on Feb 18, 2024 3:46:17 GMT -5
Artistic practices have a key role to play in leading the transformations necessary for a sustainable society. In this context, an action from the arts could stimulate the adoption of sustainability, that is, ensuring that the needs of the present are met without compromising the subsistence of future generations.
Fortunately, more and more industries and Middle East Mobile Number List sectors are joining the commitment to acquire more responsible behaviors and habits. But this transition also requires a change of thoughts, a transformation that, through sustainable ballet, could be strengthened and expanded.
The arts for social transformation
For a long time, the arts have been used in interventions that transform the individual and social groups. On stage, they have encouraged, through innovative ways, to address various social and environmental conflicts.
To a packed house in Yokohama, Japan, K-BALLET performed wearing tutus made from used bubble wrap, four huge walls of recycled bottles and 100 abandoned transparent umbrellas, attracting attention in its first performance.
Resembling space-age creatures with hand-cleaned PET bottles strapped to their bodies, the troupe, which included American guest star Julian MacKay, jumped and spun through a changing maze on stage. The dancers' futuristic helmets gleam under the lights at a top-notch ballet show, but just two months earlier their costumes were sticky bottles thrown into a Tokyo recycling bin.
Sustainable ballet vs. plastics
Plastic pollution has become one of the most pressing environmental problems, as the increase in the production of disposable plastic products outstrips the world's ability to deal with them. In fact, the United Nations points out that, if this situation continues, the volume of plastic entering the oceans will almost triple by 2040.
MacKay, 25, noted that the "big problem" of plastic waste "hasn't really gotten any attention" in the dance world, and believes performing arts can help inspire people to take action.
"When you take a medium like ballet or dance, and add it to recycling or upcycling, it forces people to think, well, what else can I do, what else works?"
MacKay, K-BALLET dancer.
In November, after midnight in Tokyo's Harajuku fashion district, K-BALLET chief producer Taiju Takano and set designer Naoya Sakata were rummaging through recycling bins to find plastic props for the show. Together with staff from the waste management company, Shirai Eco Center, they shook the tubs and sorted the plastic bottles, aluminum cans and cigarette butts.
Sakata also used machine-recycled PET bottles provided by Shirai to build bottle walls and the huge letters that descended to spell “party,” in the joyful ending to the show's first half. In total, more than 10 thousand recycled and reused bottles were used. Naoya Sakata, 28, said it made him realize that the amount being thrown away each day is "shocking."
The problem of single-use plastics
Single-use plastic is still a big problem in Japan, where even individual pieces of fruit often come packaged. However, data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) indicates that Japan generates only a third of the plastic waste generated by its American counterparts and less than the average for the organization's European members.
K-BALLET plans to keep its costumes and props for at least a year, in hopes of putting the show back together, after which Shirai will recycle the bottles. Ayumi Kisaki, a 30-year-old actress, said: "These dancers who highlight the problem of plastic waste made me realize that it was my problem too."
Mitigating the climate crisis and addressing the plastics problem is a task that requires the collaboration of all sectors, including arts and culture. Therefore, initiatives like this sustainable ballet are essential to accelerate action and echo the danger we face.
Fortunately, more and more industries and Middle East Mobile Number List sectors are joining the commitment to acquire more responsible behaviors and habits. But this transition also requires a change of thoughts, a transformation that, through sustainable ballet, could be strengthened and expanded.
The arts for social transformation
For a long time, the arts have been used in interventions that transform the individual and social groups. On stage, they have encouraged, through innovative ways, to address various social and environmental conflicts.
To a packed house in Yokohama, Japan, K-BALLET performed wearing tutus made from used bubble wrap, four huge walls of recycled bottles and 100 abandoned transparent umbrellas, attracting attention in its first performance.
Resembling space-age creatures with hand-cleaned PET bottles strapped to their bodies, the troupe, which included American guest star Julian MacKay, jumped and spun through a changing maze on stage. The dancers' futuristic helmets gleam under the lights at a top-notch ballet show, but just two months earlier their costumes were sticky bottles thrown into a Tokyo recycling bin.
Sustainable ballet vs. plastics
Plastic pollution has become one of the most pressing environmental problems, as the increase in the production of disposable plastic products outstrips the world's ability to deal with them. In fact, the United Nations points out that, if this situation continues, the volume of plastic entering the oceans will almost triple by 2040.
MacKay, 25, noted that the "big problem" of plastic waste "hasn't really gotten any attention" in the dance world, and believes performing arts can help inspire people to take action.
"When you take a medium like ballet or dance, and add it to recycling or upcycling, it forces people to think, well, what else can I do, what else works?"
MacKay, K-BALLET dancer.
In November, after midnight in Tokyo's Harajuku fashion district, K-BALLET chief producer Taiju Takano and set designer Naoya Sakata were rummaging through recycling bins to find plastic props for the show. Together with staff from the waste management company, Shirai Eco Center, they shook the tubs and sorted the plastic bottles, aluminum cans and cigarette butts.
Sakata also used machine-recycled PET bottles provided by Shirai to build bottle walls and the huge letters that descended to spell “party,” in the joyful ending to the show's first half. In total, more than 10 thousand recycled and reused bottles were used. Naoya Sakata, 28, said it made him realize that the amount being thrown away each day is "shocking."
The problem of single-use plastics
Single-use plastic is still a big problem in Japan, where even individual pieces of fruit often come packaged. However, data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) indicates that Japan generates only a third of the plastic waste generated by its American counterparts and less than the average for the organization's European members.
K-BALLET plans to keep its costumes and props for at least a year, in hopes of putting the show back together, after which Shirai will recycle the bottles. Ayumi Kisaki, a 30-year-old actress, said: "These dancers who highlight the problem of plastic waste made me realize that it was my problem too."
Mitigating the climate crisis and addressing the plastics problem is a task that requires the collaboration of all sectors, including arts and culture. Therefore, initiatives like this sustainable ballet are essential to accelerate action and echo the danger we face.