Sayoko Onishi (born April 24, 1968) is a

butoh is a form of Japanese dance theatre that encompasses a diverse range of activities, techniques and motivations for dance, performance, or movement. Following World War II, butoh arose in 1959 through collaborations between its two key founders ...

dancer, choreographer and master from Japan, known for the development of the new butoh style, and the foundation of the International Butoh Academy in

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...

, Italy.

Life

Sayoko Onishi was born in

Sapporo ( ain, サッ・ポロ・ペッ, Satporopet, lit=Dry, Great River) is a city in Japan. It is the largest city north of Tokyo and the largest city on Hokkaido, the northernmost main island of the country. It ranks as the fifth most populous city ...

Hokkaido is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel. The la ...

on April 24, 1968. In 1986 she started studying butoh dance in the dance company Hoppo-Butoh Ha, with Ipei Yamada. Later she began an intensive artistic activity under the supervision of Hironobu Oikawa, absorbing the choreographic style of butoh dance. Since 1990 she has lived in Europe working as a professional choreographer and a dancer, teaching and performing all over the world. Her choreographic projects have been funded by the

Deutsche Oper The Deutsche Oper Berlin is a German opera company located in the Charlottenburg district of Berlin. The resident building is the country's second largest opera house (after Munich's) and also home to the Berlin State Ballet. Since 2004, the De ...

in Berlin, the Amsterdams Fonds voor de kunst, the

University of Palermo The University of Palermo ( it, Università degli Studi di Palermo) is a university located in Palermo, Italy, and founded in 1806. It is organized in 12 Faculties. History The University of Palermo was officially founded in 1806, although its ...

, the Teatro Comunale di Ferrara. She has been a guest teacher of butoh and new butoh for the , the

University of Siena The University of Siena ( it, Università degli Studi di Siena, abbreviation: UNISI) in Siena, Tuscany, is one of the oldest and first publicly funded universities in Italy. Originally called ''Studium Senese'', the institution was founded in 1240 ...

, and the

. In 2000 Sayoko Onishi established in Palermo, Italy where she founded the International Butoh Academy at the presence of master and butoh founder Yoshito Ohno. Sayoko Onishi and Yoshito Ohno are credited as being the first butoh choreographers to speak about New Butoh style. The academy name was changed to New Butoh School in 2007. In 2018 the New Butoh School established in

Ruvo di Puglia ''"Ruvo died to revive, like the Phoenix of Heliopolis, from the ashes of itself"'' Ruvo di Puglia (; nap, label= Ruvese, Rìuve ) is a city and '' comune (municipality)'' in the Metropolitan City of Bari in Apulia, southern Italy. It is a ver ...

, Italy. Onishi's active in Europe in the French company Man'ok & Cie in Nancy (France) since 2009 with the project MA2 (Move Art Two). With her new butoh style, Onishi is considered one of the most important innovators in the international butoh panorama.

Awards

* 1st prize at the International Dance Competition in Augusburg ( (Germany)) (1997) * 1st prize at the Die Platze contemporary dance competition in Tokyo with her performance "Primavera Siciliana" (2006)

Filmography

Ju-Ni Hitoe oder die Entdeckung der Seele (Documentary, 1994)

Publications

* L'arte dell'improvvisazione, atto secondo, due interviste di Vito Minoia a Ginevra Sanguigno e a Sayoko Onishi - Proartis, ISSN 1594-3496 * Catarsi : teatri delle diversità : rivista europea, A. 2015, n. 68-69, p. 40-41, "New Butoh al profumo di zagara : Sayoko Onishi" di Eugenia Casini Ropa - ISSN 1594-3496

References

External links

* https://www.butoh.it * https://www.newbutohschool.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Onishi, Sayoko 1968 births Living people People from Sapporo Japanese female dancers 20th-century dancers 21st-century dancers Women choreographers Japanese expatriates in Germany Japanese expatriates in the Netherlands Japanese expatriates in Italy Japanese choreographers Butoh