Evan Mazunik – pianist, composer, and Soundpainter – is assistant conductor of the New York Soundpainting Orchestra. As a composer, he scored the documentary “The Checker King,” which aired on HBO2. As a performer, he has played with Carla Bley, Steve Swallow, Dick Oatts and Robert Paredes. Mazunik is also keyboardist for the Walter Thompson Orchestra www.evanmazunik.com
Akira Kasai
AKIRA KASAI has been called the “Niinsky of butoh” because of the stunning energy and concentration of his wild improvisational dances. In the 1960s, he studied with butoh co-founder Kazuo Ohno, and in 1971 started his own butoh company, Tenshi-kan. He moved to Germany in 1979 and trained there for six years in eurhythmy. A pivotal figure in the butoh world, since his return to Japan, he has cultivated his own highly idiosyncratic style of dance, pushing the envelope of butoh by mixing in elements as diverse as German eurhythmy, kabuki and hip-hop. Akira Kasai, born in 1943, originally studied … Continued
cokaseki
Berlin-based group cokaseki is led by Yuko Kaseki (choreographer/dancer) and Marc Ates (choreographer/director)w, ho have performed their work throughout Europe,J apan and the U.S. Their last production Ame to Ame was nominated for Visual design at the 2005 Isadora Duncan Dance Awards in San Francisco- the piece received the Award for ‘Best Ensemble Work’. www.cokaseki.com
Masaki Iwana
Masaki lwana began his dance career in 1975 outside the “butoh genealogy.” Until 1982 he presented 150 experimental performances in which he stood straight, completely naked and perfectly still. Since then, lwana has presented his performances and workshops in 38 countries and has created works which are built on his sharpened aesthetic. Iwana runs an institute for the research of butoh, La Maison du Butoh Blanc, in Normandy, France since 1995. www.iwanabutoh.com