Irem Calikusu’s life as a dancer started in Istanbul, at the Theater Research Lab with Mustafa Kaplan. Being deeply moved by a butoh performance she saw in Istanbul, she went on to complete a Master’s thesis on but and post war politics in Japan at the Anthropology Department of Mass, Amherst. She has studied with Akira Kasai, Ko Murobushi, and Takuya Muramatsu as well as trained for 2 years at the Cunningham School for Dance. Her biggest inspiration was the 5 months she spent training with Min Tanaka at the Body Weather Farm. Irem has been showing her own work … Continued

Parker Pracjek works in the areas of creative writing, Adult Basic Education, literacy through the arts, and dance theatre performance. Her work has been seen in community arts festivals,The Mulberry Street Theatre, The Puffin Room,La Mama, andWOWCafé Theatre. Praciek holds a Master’s degree in Performance Studies from NYU and works as Managing Director of the New York Butoh Festival.

Celeste Hastings is a NYC based choreographer, performer, costume and soundscape designer, and experimental videographer. her work fuses dance, theater and Japanese butoh. A lead dancer for 12 years with post modern butoh company Poppo and Gogo Boys, she has collaborated with many artists/companies such as Richard Move, Noemie Lafrance, Anemone Dance Theater, Black Moon Theater, Mpenp Wakamatsu, NAdine Helstroffer, Marilo, Sanjo, Accion Colectiva Venezuela, Tetsuro Fukuhara and Eri Majima (Japan), Director Antonio Laj (Poland and NY), co-editor with filmaker Simon Grome and is working with Akira Kasai;s Butoh America NYC Production.

Erin Ellen Kelly has trained with butoh masters Ko Murobushi, Takuya Muramatsu, Tetsuro Fukuhara, and Diego Piñon and employs techniques from butoh, qigong, gymnastics, farming, cabaret dancing, and performance action-theater to create new works, ways of moving, and performance installation pieces that comment on the human condition and its relationship to the environment and society. Erin has greeted and collaborated on site specific dance performances in gardens, galleries, warehouse spaces, boats and theaters across the U.S.and Europe and created commissioned work for LaMama in New York and Schloss Bröllin in Germany. Also Founding member of RansomCorp. Active from 1999-20002. Erin … Continued