X KILLS Y, AND VICE VERSA

In a mysterious laboratory, a mad scientist, Dr. X, succeeds in inventing a new weapon of mass destruction, a female robot subject to his control. Through her he plans to destroy the world. However, Dr. X accidentally takes his own drug and is himself transformed into an innocent young girl, named Y. Y falls in love with Hero who fights against Dr. X. A futuristic, live action, cartoon like version of “Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde” and “ Romeo and Juliet,” “X KILLS Y, AND VICE VERSA” tells a story that is both comical and frightening.

Premiered 2004, 45 minutes

Cyborg: Suzi Takahashi

Dr.X: Kiyoko Kashiwagi

Hero: Vincent McCloskey

Video Images by Kazuhiro Soda

Jighting Design by Lucrecia Briceno
Music by Shu Nakamura and others

Genres: Comedy, Drama, Heroes, Robot, Romance, Sci-Fi/Fantasy

REVIEWS

"Funny girl - Kiyoko Kashiwagi embraces anime in her kooky X Kills Y, and Vice Versa"

by Gia Kourlas, Time Out New York, 2005

"At Last, Weapons of Mass Destruction Are Found . . . In Queens!"

by Eva Yaa Asantewaa, Village Voice, 2005

"Characters Who Cavort In and Out of the Anime and Human Worlds"

...choreographer and dancer Kiyoko Kashiwagi, Japan-born and New York-based, has taken the animation process one step further in her Anime Dance Theater...

by John Rockwell, New York Times, 2005

"If I had three thumbs, I'd put them all up!"

by David Neumann, 2005

"Full of Humor"

by Akiko Nishimura, OCS NEWS, August 16, 2004

The dancer/ choreographer Kiyoko Kashiwagi, founder of ANIME DANCE THEATER, presented her new dance piece "X Kills Y, and Vice Versa" at HERE Arts Center in SoHo on August 16th, as a part of the 15th Annual American Living Room Festival. The piece was made, in part, during a residency program at White Oak sponsored by The Field, and is a fascinating dance comedy, which reveals Kashiwagi's charm throughout. The mad scientist, Dr. X (performed by Kashiwagi), is requested to invent a new weapon of mass destruction and creates a cyborg (performed by Susi Takahashi) who has gigantic breasts. As a result of some unexpected experimentation, Dr. X is transformed into a pretty girl (Y). Y falls in love with a hero (Vincent McCloskey) who is a believer in peace. Through the use of elements such as a superhero song from the Showa Period in Japan, and video images (by Kazuhiro Soda) of an explosion of nuclear weapons, Kashiwagi satirizes a world in which the wrong people have their way.