The Canto Series
Diana Marto's Epic Spirit Play with Paper & Dance
In the late
70’s to mid 80’s I lived in Japan and Hong Kong. I
discovered the traditional uses of handmade paper in spiritual
practices, and learned the ancient practice of papermaking without
the use of machinery. During that time Kei Takei, the world renown
choreographer and dancer named me one of Japan’s young choreographers
for the American Dance Festival, Tokyo. While
touring papermakers and papermaking villages in Japan I paid my respects
to the Paper Goddess at her shrine in the mountains. It
began to snow and I had a vision of the Paper Goddess “snowing” paper
all over
the land to bring healing
to the people. From this experience I developed my Canto Series,
my epic spirit play with paper and dance. They
are visual journals of the teachings
I
receive
from the land, both performance art
rituals and installations of related art works. My first Canto
took place in a Kyoto gallery and on a jetty in the Kamo River
where I danced with 40 feet of paper, making a sculpture garden.
The Cantos explore the themes
of the mythos of place, the sea, and life passages.
They are site-specific solo and group performances
which incorporate storytelling, dance, and live sound
scores for voice and musical instruments.
Currently I am presenting my XIX Canto, “Whale Guardian” in art centers
and out door venues. It consists of a site specific performance with cast paper
whale bones, an installation of suspended whale bones with a film of the artist
dancing with the bones in a cove in Big Sur along with images of mother and baby
whales in the birthing lagoons in Baja, and cast wall relief sculptures with
sea kelp and whale fossils.
