Way back in Apr 2013, NTW took the a show to Tokyo. Alan Harris' 'An Opporunity of Efficiency' was performed at the New National Theatre Tokyo, in Japanese, by a Japanese cast. In true NTW style the company took the opportunity to export the other aspects of the company's work too. Abdul held an Assembly, Katherine gave talks across the country  on her work with Digital at NTW and Matt gave a run down of our initiative for new performance ideas: WalesLab.

Whilst there Matt made an offer to Japanese artists: come to Wales, be inspired by the landscape, histories and people here, and carry out your very own WalesLab project. Artist development opportunities like WalesLab just don't exist in Japan - to the surprise of our many Japanese partners and our our absolute delight, we received over 70 applications in total from artists working across Japan and its diaspora, from artists working in many different disciplines. 

Fast foreword to today and we are now exactly 7 weeks away from welcoming two companies to Cardiff ready for them to carryout their creative investigations.

The first is Underground Airport!

Underground Airport is a company made up of (from left to right) Shuya Okumura (Technical Assoicate), Yasuro Ito (Director), and Chinatsu Ito (Dramaturg). They started making work together back in 2000 and most recently produced 'The Scandal of Propagation Island' with the agency for Cultural Affairs in Japan.

Their theatre productions are often socially engaged, taking a social issue and creating a fantasy world in which to explore it from different viewpoints.

Their project in Wales is called 'Red Dragon and Soil Traveller' and will be looking at links between Japan and Wales around attitudes towards nuclear power after the Fukushima disaster in 2011. They will be spending two weeks in Cardiff and on Anglesey, meeting with other artists and communities to hear their opinions on the plans to develop nuclear sites in Wales using Japanese technology.

Follow them @ugaugaugauga

And introducing Yo Nakamura

Yo has been working as a choreographer since 2010. She likes to create rich, textured pieces by using movement, text, narrative and character relationships to make this possible. Her work is sensitive and often humorous. As well as creating her own performances, Yo choreographs for other companies and was  the choreographer for NTW's Opportunity of Efficiency.

Yo's WalesLab project is called 'Cymru and I' and will look at the relationship between memory and place. Her starting point will be conversations and interactions she has with people she encounters whilst here in Wales. As a collaborative artist by nature, Yo will be looking to work with a wales based video artist for the two weeks that she is here. More information to come on that in the future.

Both companies will be arriving on the 15th Aug. We'll be planning an opportunity for them to meet some of the artist community in Wales whilst they are here and there will be a public sharing of their work on the afternoon of the 27th Aug. Pop the date in your diaries - more info on that to come.

Both groups will be keeping the community up to date with what they are working on via their blog posts so keep an eye out for those too.

We will also be working with Kyoko Iwaki, a theatre critic and journalist based in Tokyo. You can expect to see a few blog posts about the companies' work from her too.

I hope you are as excited about welcoming them to the WalesLab family as I am.

These projects have been made possible due to the kind support of the Japan Foundation and The Great British Sasakawa Foundation