A History of Unowned Dance: Bodies in Transmission

Part of the U-M Center for Japanese Studies Noon Lecture Series. Co-sponsored by the Department of Dance, the International Institute, and Asian Languages and Cultures.

Please note: This lecture will be held in person in East Hall 4448. We recommend entering East Hall using the Church Street entrance and taking the elevator to the 4th floor. This event is in-person only and will not be livestreamed or recorded.

This lecture examines how dance is transformed through embodied transmission rather than preserved as a fixed tradition. Drawing on more than three decades of artistic practice between New York and Japan, Yasuko Yokoshi reflects on how choreography, Nihon Buyo, and Noh have continually reshaped her body and artistic practice. Through performance examples and the ongoing dojojiproject, the lecture considers transformation not as the opposite of the archive, but as the very condition through which dance survives.

YASUKO YOKOSHI is a choreographer and dancer whose work explores embodied transmission, dance lineage, and the unstable nature of dance as a living archive. Based in New York from 1996 to 2015, she received two New York Dance and Performance “Bessie” Awards (2003, 2006), a Guggenheim Fellowship, a NYFA Artist Fellowship, support from Creative Capital, and a Foundation for Contemporary Arts Award. Her works have been presented internationally, often engaging the space between contemporary dance and Japanese traditional performing arts.

If there is anything we can do to make this event accessible to you, please contact the Center for Japanese Studies. Please be aware that advance notice is necessary as some accommodations may require more time for the university to arrange.