Mariko Sanjo ( ja, 三条万里子 born June 12, 1933) is a Japanese modern dancer, choreographer, director based in New York City and Japan.

Biography

Mariko was born in 1933 in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. She started dancing at the age of three, trained by Hiroshi Ohno who is a disciple of

Baku Ishii Baku (, ; az, Bakı ) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world a ...

, a pioneer of modern dance in

, and by Takaya Eguchi, another master teacher who studied with

Mary Wigman Mary Wigman (born Karoline Sophie Marie Wiegmann; 13 November 1886 – 18 September 1973) was a German dancer and choreographer, notable as the pioneer of expressionist dance, dance therapy, and movement training without pointe shoes. She is co ...

. She established her own dance studio in 1952. In 1962, she was invited from

Alvin Ailey Alvin Ailey Jr. (January 5, 1931 – December 1, 1989) was an American dancer, director, choreographer, and activist who founded the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (AAADT). He created AAADT and its affiliated Alvin Ailey American Dance Cente ...

to study with him in the United States. She also studied with

Martha Graham Martha Graham (May 11, 1894 – April 1, 1991) was an American modern dancer and choreographer. Her style, the Graham technique, reshaped American dance and is still taught worldwide. Graham danced and taught for over seventy years. She wa ...

Donald McKayle Donald McKayle (July 6, 1930 – April 6, 2018) was an American modern dancer, choreographer, teacher, director and writer best known for creating socially conscious concert works during the 1950s and '60s that focus on expressing the human con ...

Jose Limon Jose is the English transliteration of the Hebrew and Aramaic name ''Yose'', which is etymologically linked to ''Yosef'' or Joseph. The name was popular during the Mishnaic and Talmudic periods. *Jose ben Abin *Jose ben Akabya *Jose the Galilean ...

and Louis Horst. She appeared as a protagonist in McKayle's ''Legendary Landscape,'' and premiered Ailey's ''Labyrinth'' and ''Suspension'' at the

Brooklyn Academy of Music The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) is a performing arts venue in Brooklyn, New York City, known as a center for progressive and avant-garde performance. It presented its first performance in 1861 and began operations in its present location in ...

in the spring of 1963. Mariko had choreographed multiple pieces and has performed in New York City; her works that have been reviewed by ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' include ''Dance Opinion'' in 1968, ''Bird'' in 1976, and ''Voice VI'' in 1985. She has also performed in Tel Aviv, and Japan.

Awards

In 1966, Mariko was awarded by the Japan Ballet and Music Critics Association, the first woman and first dancer to receive this honor, and received a Fulbright scholarship to study in the United States With Martha Graham. In 1968, she was awarded the Art Encouragement Prize at the Agency for Cultural Affairs (ACA) National Arts Festival in Japan.The list of the award recipients at the Art Encouragement Prize at the Agency for Cultural Affairs (ACA) National Arts Festival in Japan, 21st to 30th.
(Japanese) In the same year, she was awarded the best performing artist in modern dance by the Ongaku Shinbun Newspaper, and the 10th Annual Dance Award from Dance Critics Club in Japan.

References

External links

*
Mariko Sanjo Pictures and Images
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sanjo, Mariko 1933 births Japanese female dancers Japanese dancers Contemporary dance choreographers 20th-century dancers Contemporary dancers Living people Japanese women choreographers Japanese choreographers Japanese emigrants to the United States People from Hachiōji, Tokyo Entertainers from Tokyo Modern dancers