Some nice photos from Yamato Tamura's Instagram.
Dai with Yamato and Kenji.
Thanks for sharing, yugra! I wonder, if Yamato was serious about coincidentally bumping into each other (you never know with Yamato ).
_________________________________
Dai’s new show was officially announced today! It’s called “Kassouya” and will be held 10-12 February at the renovated Ovision Ice Arena in Fukuoka (the same venue the 2nd stop of Ice Explosion was held at).
“Daisuke Takahashi, who retired last season, returns to Fukuoka with a new show produced by himself! 75 minutes of non-stop, turbulent skating where the skaters show off their craftsmanship! We invite you to a new world. "Kassouya" will bring the ultimate entertainment on ice to Fukuoka. Please come and enjoy it with your own eyes.”
Tentative cast announcement (more skaters will be added/announced later):
- Daisuke Takahashi
- Kana Muramoto
- Kanako Murakami
- Kazuki Tomono
- Sota Yamamoto
- Koshiro Shimada
- Sena Miyake
Date and time:
- Saturday 10 February 2024 (11:00 / 14:30 / 18:00)
- Sunday, 11 February 2024 (11:00 / 14:30 / 18:00)
- Monday (public holiday), 12 February 2024 (11:00 / 14:30 / 18:00)
Venue:
Ovision Ice Arena Fukuoka
1-15-30, Chishiro, Hakata-ku, Fukuoka City, Fukuoka
Official website: https://kassouya.jp/
Official instagram account: https://www.instagram.com/kassouya_official/
_________________________________
The men’s cosmetic brand “Lab Series” hosted an in-store pr event at the Isetan Shinjuku department store on 5 November, where fans had the opportunity to win a "30 seconds rendezvous" with Daisuke. 60 participants were chosen by lottery among those, who purchased 11,000 yen worth of products on the day of the event.
According to fan reports, Dai was very handsome and cheerful while handing out Lab Series sample sets, signing autographs, shaking hands and chatting, making the lucky ladies (and reportedly some gentlemen too!) go weak at the knees.
Some of the things that fans were able to find out:
- Dai won’t direct the new “Hyoen”-production, but he will direct the new show in February (at the time the title had not been revealed yet)
- He assured once again that he will keep performing for as long as possible
- He also confirmed that he’d like to learn several different pattern dances with Kana
- Kana wants to try a tango one day, so he thinks they’ll give it a shot in the future
- Upon being asked, Dai confirmed that he is currently happy and content
One fan reported that they told Dai that he was the reason they learned how to identify ice dance elements and how the scoring works (I can relate ).
_________________________________
The 3rd part of the talk between Tadahiro Nomura and Daisuke is up:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_iKjj5hDRc
_________________________________
Sumitada Moriguchi about Daisuke in an interview after Eastern Sectionals:
“I really admire his expression, his sharpness of expression, the way he attracts the audience, and so on. I really admire his great power of expression.
Also, his range of expression in every song is so wide. I think that no matter which songs we decide to use in the future, there will definitely be at least two songs that we can use as references. I respect him a lot for having worked with so many different genres of programs.
I also have great respect for Daisuke's humanity. I hope to become someone like Daisuke Takahashi, who is cool, kind to people and can embrace many people. I hope to become such a person.”
Source: https://mainichi.jp/articles/20231105/k00/00m/050/219000c
_________________________________
Team Lab gave an online presentation yesterday about their development of the projection mapping for “Hyoen” (specifically for the 2021 spin-off production “Luxe”) at the “CGWORLD 2023 Creative Conference“:
https://cgworld.jp/special/cgwcc2023/event/teamlab/
Team Lab pioneered the implementation of the technology in the context of ice shows in Japan. In 2017 “Hyoen” was, to my knowledge, one of the first figure skating shows in the world (along with “Opera on Ice”) to use projection mapping to project elaborate "set designs" onto the ice.
In 2016 there was a "test run", in which Dai performed to the song "GIFT" by the band “Mr. Children”, synchronizing his movement with the pre-created images (the performance was posted in this fan fest previously):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDTGLIwijnE
Since then, the technology has come a long way, so that the performers no longer have to try to memorise and match a pre-defined path. For “Luxe” the skaters’ boots were equipped with sensors that triggered the rendering of the images in real time, in accordance with the performers’ movement. In addition, the on-ice projections were triggered not only by movement, but also by sound/music. The most stunning display of this advanced form of projection mapping was showcased in the climax of the show, the "Phénix" scene, in which Dai (the prince to be king in the story) appears to be leaving a trail of flames.
I'm curious, if the technology has made another leap since then and whether it will be used in the new "Hyoen" production next year.
Last edited: