July 11, 2007

Interview with Japan Society's Yoko Shioya and Multimedia Preview of their Fall 2007 Performing Arts Season

Now celebrating its centennial, Japan Society has announced Turning Japanese, its far-ranging fall season of contemporary performing arts (PDF press release with detailed performance listings). Festivities planned include a remounting of puppeteer Basil Twist’s Bessie Award-winning Dogugaeshi, a birthday tribute to legendary butoh performer Kazuo Ohno, and much more. Numerous performance venues around the city-–such as P.S. 122, Dance Theater Workshop, Danspace, HERE and the Brooklyn Academy of Music–-will present works by Japanese and American artists who cross time and cultures.

I spoke with artistic director, Yoko Shioya, at Japan Society’s beautiful center on East 47th Street. She shared her thoughts on the far-ranging influence of contemporary Japanese performing arts and on the origins and significance of butoh.

Listen to audio interview (MP3 format - 33 minutes)

Yoko Shioya discusses fall performing arts season
at Japan Society press luncheon yesterday.

Yoko Shioya became Artistic Director in 2006, overseeing the Society's Performing Arts and Film Programs. Since joining the Society in 1997, she has expanded collaborative projects with American cultural organizations and universities to introduce Japanese performing artists and also launched new initiatives, including an artists’ residency project and a workshop series.

Also known in Japan as a writer/researcher on the public and private arts support systems in the U.S. and Japan, Ms. Shioya has been invited to speak at numerous symposia, lectures and TV programs presented by the Agency for Cultural Affairs of the Japanese government, Keidanren, the Academy of Cultural Economics and the Japan Council of Performers' Organizations, among others. In 1998, her first book, New York: How the City and Its Artists Coexist, was published by Maruzen Publishing Co.

She has been a regular contributor to arts columns on performing arts and exhibitions for the Asahi newspaper, and is currently a committee member of The Bessie Award and the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council’s Fund for Creative Community in dance. Ms. Shioya holds BAs in musicology and dance history from Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music.

Images from the Fall 2007 Performing Arts Season

Click on any of the below pictures to see larger images:

Choreographer Makoto Enda (right) in Makotocluv's Nipponia-Nippon
© Non Takagi
Upcoming Performance: 11th Annual Contemporary Dance
Showcase Phase II: Japan + East Asia - January 18 & 19, 2008

Sun-Shier Dance Theatre from Taiwan; Choreographer Pi-Jung Wu (center)
© Sandy Ou-Yang
Upcoming Performance: 11th Annual Contemporary Dance
Showcase Phase II: Japan + East Asia - January 18 & 19, 2008

Akira Kasai
© Christa Cowrie
Upcoming Performance: Butoh America, October 25-27, 2007

Left to right: Koma & Eiko
© Jaroslow Brezezinski
Upcoming Performance: Eiko & Koma with Margaret Leng
Tan Mourning, October 18-21, 2007

Naomi Muku in Yupiters, choreographed by Yuko Kobayashi
© Junichi Matsuda
Upcoming Performance: Kazuo Ohno 101: 3-Week
Butoh Parade, October 9-10, 1007

Yoshito Ohno
© Naoya Ikegami
Upcoming Performance: Yoshito Ohno Butoh Marathon
curated by CAVE + Yoshito Ohno, October 27, 2007

Video Highlights from Turning Japanese

Click on either of the images below to watch video excerpts:

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