Dancing Voices in Dreams: The Intersection of Toshie Negishi and Stage Music (ca. 1980)

Dancing Voices in Dreams: The Intersection of Toshie Negishi and Stage Music (ca. 1980)

From the late 1970s to the early 1980s, the performing arts in Japan were undergoing a period of transition. As the small-theater movement and underground theater gained citizenship, theater became more than mere entertainment; it became a place for criticism of society and a place for raw emotion to be laid bare. In this atmosphere of the stage, "Stripper Story," in which actress Toshie Negishi appeared, remained in the audience's memory as a work that straddled the boundary between the body and words.

The stage, as Negishi recalls, was deeply etched with a piece of music. It was the song "I'll Dance for You in Your Dreams" that played throughout the play. This music was not just background music to embellish the scene. She describes it as "a help. The melody by composer Akira Otsu, wavering between fantasy and reality, led the performer's body smoothly into the depths of the stage. The sound evoked vibrations in her heart that could not be expressed through dialogue, allowing her to immerse herself in the role.

At the time, the subject of strippers exposed the female body to the ambivalence of expression and exploitation. Although exposed to the gaze of the audience, these women did not simply "undress," but danced as a ritual to deconstruct and reconstruct their own memories and desires. In such a space, music could be a costume, a protection, and sometimes an escape for the girls.

Stage music also underwent a major transformation during this period. It was going beyond sound effects and accompaniment, resonating with the actor's inner world and becoming an antagonistic presence to the performance. Akira Otsu's music was at the very forefront of this change, supporting the bodies and minds of actors like Negishi and enabling them to take a leap forward in their expression.

When she says, "I loved his music," she is not only praising his technique, but also expressing her gratitude for the moment she actually lived on the stage. In the dream illuminated by the music, the actress and her role were deeply connected in a way that the audience could not see. The stage was a place where these "unvoiced voices" danced.