Rachel Cohen
Rachel Cohen has been choreographing and performing in NewYork City since 1997, and created Racoco Productions in 2003. She graduated from Harvard University with a degree in Performance as Communication, a self-designed major; she studied dance and choreography with Claire Mallardi. Ms. Cohen currently studies action theater with Ruth Zaporah and Cassie Terman and ballet with Carolyn Lord; other influential teachers include Mary Anthony and Bertram Ross (modern dance), Heather Cornell (tap), Rafael Bianciotto (mask and clown), Patricia Cross (ballet), and Joanne Conroy and Olga Baigas (jazz). She has performed with Olek, Julie Atlas Muz, SHUA Group, Ariane Anthony + … Continued
Elke Luyten
Elke Luyten, originally from Belgium, lives and works in New York City. In 2010, Luyten re-performed several of Abramović’s pieces at the exhibition “Marina Abramović: The Artist Is Present” at the MoMA. She is currently performing in Robert Wilson’s “The Life and Death of Marina Abramović”, which has toured internationally since 2011. Luyten’s own work has been presented by the RED- CAT in Los Angeles, Kyoto University of Art and Design, Hooyong Performing Art Centre in South Korea, the Parrish Art Museum in Water Mill and Dance New Amsterdam in New York. Her most recent collaboration with Kira Alker called … Continued
Kota Yamazaki
Kota Yamazaki was first introduced to butoh in 1977 through the teaching of Akira Kasai and began ballet training under the late Hirofumi Inoue in 1981. He was an artistic director of Tokyo-based rosy co. from 1995 until its close in 2001. Following an invitation in 2001 from Germaine Acogny,Yamazaki created the work FAGAA- LA in collaboration with her Senegal-based company, for which he received a NY Dance and Performance Award (Bessie Award) in 2007 and nominated for Alpert Award. Since 2002,Yamazaki with his NY-based Fluid hug-hug, presents works nationally and inter- nationally and teaches at many universities. In 2013, … Continued
Mina Nishimura
Mina Nishimura, from Tokyo, was introduced to butoh and impro- visational dance through Kota Yamazaki’s teaching.While perform- ing nationally and internationally with many inspirational chore- ographers, her own works have been presented by DTW,The Kitchen, Danspace Project, Movement Research, Roulette among other venues. Nishimura was the danceWeb scholar at Impuls Tanz (Vienna) in 2009, and was a curator for MR Spring Festival 2013. She was on AIR program at Brooklyn Art Exchange in 2010-2011, at Chez Bushwick in 2013 and is a current AIR (2013-2014) at Movement Research. Nishimura has been teaching at Bennington College and Ferris University (Japan).
Rebecca Brooks
Rebecca Brooks is a dance artist based in Brooklyn, NY. Her performance works have been presented in theaters, galleries, art fairs, community centers, living rooms, offices, churches, bars, and parks. Her most recent work, Still Left On This Rock, was presented at Danspace Project in April 2014. She has worked as a performer with Marina Abramović, luciana achugar, Maria Hassabi, Susan Rethorst, robbinschilds, Kathy Westwater, and many others. She works in an advisory role with Heather Kravas and Milka Djordjevich.An AmSAT-certified Alexander Technique teacher, Rebecca is currently on faculty at Balance Arts Center and Movement Research, and she also teaches … Continued
Polina Klimovitskaya
Polina Klimovitskaya has worked as a director and master teacher across Russia, Europe and the United States and holds an MFA and a Ph.D. from Yale University. She started her work as an actress and director in Moscow in the 1960s, studying acting with disciples of Stanislavsky and Vakhtangov and directing with the last assistant of the great stage-innovator Meyerhold. In the USA she performed at Yale Repertory Theater and in the Academy Award-winning short film Molly’s Pilgrim. Polina has directed at the Kennedy Center, among dozens of other places, and as an artist-in-residence at Mabou Mines, for whom she … Continued
Ximena Garnica
Ximena Garnica (Officer/Founder/Artistic Director), director and curator of the New York Butoh Festival and Artist in Residence at the CAVE gallery. “Once it touches, it enters. As it travels within it stirs my guts. It breaks off skin, and I soon find myself in pieces scattered in the void. With pieces still cracking, I now celebrate”. Ximena Garnica Gomez, born in Bogota, Colombia, is an actress, dancer and emerging theater director. She is Associate Director of CAVE Co-Director of CAVE ensemble and Artistic Director of LEIMAY Productions. She has trained with several butoh masters including Ko Murobushi, Yukio Waguri, Akira … Continued
Jose Rivera Jr.
José Rivera, Jr. (President) is a Puerto Rican – American multimedia performing artist, direc- tor & choreographer based in Brooklyn, NY, merging techniques in performance, fashion, technology, visual art, and theater techniques. NYC: OF CAKE & VANITY (NYU,The PIT), Mad Forest (Radu), ACTING: the first 6 Lessons (Creature Cho- rus), Spring Awakening (Dr.VonBrausepulver), the displacement Project & Qual- ia-Gardens (LEIMAY), Emily Dickinson OUTERSPACE! (Bushwick Starr). Choreo & Direction: Bohemian Lights (LiveSource/HERE), Miami is Sinking (Dixon Place), In the Heights, Passing Strange,The Girl Who Was Plugged In, Songs for a New World. José works admin at CAVE home of LEIMAY. BFA, … Continued
Raul Zbengheci
Raul Zbengheci (he/him) is a Romanian-American cultural organizer, producer, and administrator. If contemporary art and culture functions today as an archipelago composed of small islands, Raul situates himself in the waters between the islands, following the currents and floating softly between different mediums, technologies, and influences. He specializes in producing and commissioning ambitious large scale art projects while also using his skills as a producer to support community groups fighting for social justice. Prior to joining NEW INC, Raul worked with the Whitney Museum of American Art, PERFORMA, Times Square Arts, PROTOTYPE Festival, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, and more. He … Continued