ABSTRACT
The parallels between ‘Fred and Ginger’ of 1930s Hollywood musical fame and ‘Eiko and Koma’ are not many-but they do exist. From the beginning of their career as a team of theatre artists, the Japanese-born couple has chosen to be known by their first names. Regularly their biographical sketches explain that the Eiko is the female half of the duo and Koma the male. No last names are ever mentioned. In real life, this man and woman are a married couple, suggesting the rapport inherent to the ‘perfect partnership’ recognized almost universally in the Fred-and-Ginger label. Theoretically, the physical and temperamental rapport that Eiko and Koma display on stage is every bit as practised and harmonious as that of the ballroom/show-dancing duos-but there, more or less, is where such similarity ends.
