My dances are influenced by the culture of the people of New York City. The noise and passion of their opinions and interactions is always abuzz, from the din of two old folks emphatically arguing on a street corner to the soft hum of a couple walking with their fingers tenderly interlocked. This city is like a huge, free-for-all laboratory where expressions and viewpoints from every corner of the globe knock up against each other. In contrast to the more subtle, patient and pre-meditated values of my Asian background, all of this endless and uninhibited noise incites my curiosity for dance-making and inspires me to explore personal culture and individuality. I am also deeply inspired to push my dance-making outside of the box and to do this I allow humor, color, rock music, contemporary performance-art installations and cutting-edge fashion to influence my creative process.

 

In process, I approach each of my dances as if they are a rubber band. I push the elasticity of my concepts through ardent observation of my dancers and I allow my work to be infused by every aspect of their individuality and by their personal experiences of reality. Everything is allowed to be expressed and explored. Then, from this place of expansiveness, with direction the rubber band can contract to display a simple, uncluttered exposition; a quiet conversation; a single example of humanity infused by so much richness and depth. My dances are not big things. I aim for them to contain a sense of freedom, to be authentic, honest, relatable and enjoyable whether they are happy, sad, subtle, impassioned, fast, slow or indescribable. That is, imparted with my own, particular Japanese perspective, I make dance to connect to other human beings, to understand our differences with more clarity and to be a part of the myriad of uninhibited conversations that take place every day in NYC.