MEMBER

Director

Yoko Koike〈dancer / choreographer〉

Yoko Koike started her career as a ballet dancer and moved her field of practice into contemporary dance in 2008 to undertake her creative process in exploring the sensitivity of a physical body and senses. She incorporates the idea of Feldenkrais Method into the practice based on her background in ballet. Over the years, Yoko built her career as a dancer and a choreographer by taking part in a number of performances and festivals in Asia, Middle East and Europe. Working in the field of art including music, visual arts, literature, Feldenkrais Method have led to her own expression of work. Alongside her practice, Yoko has been a part-time lecturer at Nagoya University of Arts and Sciences since 2019 and currently pursuing her research in exploring new ways of artistic expression beyond the constraints of dance practice at Kyoto University of Arts. 2021, M.F.A；finished the Master of Fine Arts.In 2021, she launched SC∀L∃R and started creative activities on a project-by-project basis as an artist collective.　▶︎ website
 

Image

Shin Yamane 〈video / photographer〉

Using video and photography as the main media, he creates works that reflect his own direct experiences. Recent works include 《ENTO / MEIPIN》 (photograph/installation, 2021), in which he photographed ceramic artist Taizo Kuroda's work, and 《Hide and Trick the Wind》which was inspired by a stay and exchange with a Taiwanese sharman (Tainan City AIR). (Video Installation, 2020)  ▶︎ website
 
 

Music / Sound Design

toru yamanaka 〈music composer〉

Born in Osaka, Japan. As a music composer, producer, club DJ and organizer, Yamanaka has collaborated with various artists around the
world. From 1984, he joined the Japanese performance group Dumb Type as a music composer and sound designer. He is organizing the one night club event "Diamonds Are Forever" from 1989. Since 2000, Yamanaka has been collaborating with Singaporean theater director Ong Keng Sen.  ▶︎ website
 

Performer

Takao Kawaguchi 〈dancer / performer〉

Joined Dumb Type in1996. Later went solo from 2000, and has since been exploring live performance crossing borders of theater, dance, visual image and fine arts, collaborating with artists of different disciplines.  From 2008 he began solo performance series a perfect life, the 6th work of which was presented at the 5th Yebisu Eizo Festival  at the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography in 2013. Recently he approached Butoh in The Sick Dancer (2012) and About Kazuo Ohno (2013). The latter was nominated for NYC Bessie Award in 2016, and is currently touring around the world. Latest works include: TOUCH OF THE OTHER (Los Angeles 2015; Tokyo in 2016); and BLACKOUT (2018, Tokyo). In Spring 2021 Kawaguchi was the artistic director of Tokyo Real Underground (performances-on-streaming festival), also premiered his new piece Minotaur Disco. He also co-organized]the two-day arts event INOUTSIDE together with David Wampaxh and fukudapero. For these activities Kawaguchi was awarded to the National Arts Encouragement Award for the year 2021 by the Agency of Culture and Arts.  ▶︎ website
 

Tadashi Shimada 〈 dancer / Edgeofthecity 〉

Born in Yokohama in 1986. At the age of 19, Tadashi practiced Method acting at UPS academy, led by Yoko Narahashi and pursued his career in dance having trained under Tomohisa Suzuki. Tadashi focuses on improvisational practices to explore the reality in the moment of being present, based on the physical, emotional and personal memories of the everyday. In 2013 he was awarded for his performance ‘twilight’ as part of the Yokohama Dance Collection EX 2013 which led to re-enact his performance piece in Singapore and Malaysia. He also performed across Seoul, Hachinohe and Yokohama, as part of the Japan-Korea Dance Exchange Project. Tadashi’s ongoing project Edgeofthecity is a series of practices based on the existence of living in the corner of a city to explore the transitory act of everyday through mind and body. Currently Tadashi is taking part in the performance pieces including ‘REI / instar’ by SC∀L∃R and ‘ABITA’ by nakice (Miwa Okuno and Yohei Fujishiro).