Kagemu's Black Sun

December 1, 2011 4:37 PM

Black Sun is a meticulously choreographed projection of motiongraphics onto dance, combining traditional and modern elements of Japanese culture and martial arts. Artist Nobuyuki Hanabusa and dancer Katsumi Sakakura, together known as Kagemu, have since been widely imitated by others, including Beyoncé.

via The Atlantic

posted by klausman (7 comments total)

Great stuff. This particular clip comes from a popular prime-time French TV show called "The world's greatest cabaret" that features circus performers and topless dancers. Kagemu's performance was stuck between a close-up magician and Chinese sword jugglers. The act was such a hit with the audience that it was shown again a few weeks later.
posted by elgilito at 5:26 PM on December 1, 2011 [1 favorite]

I love the idea of this, and some of the motion graphics are nice, but as a whole, it's a bit... tacky and middlebrow, the same sort of feeling I get from Cirque de Soleil. It seems tailor-made for the sort of upper middle class white people in suits that are seen watching it here. "Exotic", but not too strange. Throw in some videogame and Matrix like stuff, and there you have it.

I expect they'll be offered a residency at a Las Vegas hotel any time now. Maybe some Elvis- and Michael Jackson themed shows.
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 6:08 PM on December 1, 2011

Does anyone know if this is all preprogrammed, or somehow interactive? The Beyoncé show is obviously preprogrammed (and far sloppier), but the Kagemu one is so tight I can't really tell. On one hand, it's impressive for someone to get the choreography so tight, but on the other, I'd love for this to somehow be interactive, it'd be a much more interesting tool for performers.
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 6:13 PM on December 1, 2011

That was spectacular! Apparently I'm a sucker for this projection stuff.

Kill Bill meets Peter Pan meets artsy visual installations for electronica shows.
posted by stroke_count at 6:48 PM on December 1, 2011

Yeah, I was going to say that it's really gimmicky and cheesy, but god damn if that Beyonce performance isn't so over the top that it becomes somehow glorious.
posted by empath at 9:38 PM on December 1, 2011

empath: "Yeah, I was going to say that it's really gimmicky and cheesy, but god damn if that Beyonce performance isn't so over the top that it becomes somehow glorious"

It is, and then they shoot it from different angles and turn on a bunch of lights on stage, ruining the effect.
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 10:46 PM on December 1, 2011

Throw in some videogame and Matrix like stuff, and there you have it.

Actually, I was imagining this part as an option in a new Wii console.

Does anyone know if this is all preprogrammed, or somehow interactive?

I seriously doubt it, but if it was I would buy one. While definitely not my main reason for doubting any interactivity, in another video of this act, I noticed birds exploding when not hit, things like that.
posted by klausman at 6:53 AM on December 2, 2011