Profile

Tsuyoshi Shirai

Born in 1976 in Iida (Nagano　prefecture). From 1996 to 2000, he danced with the company Kim Itoh + the Glorious Future. He was one of the founders of the company “Study of Live Works – Baneto” in 1998. “Living Room”, a Baneto production choreographed by Shirai won the Bagnolet International Choreography Award ‘Prix d' Auteur du Conceil General de la Seine-Saint-Denis’ in 2000. In 2004 his solo performance “Shitsuryo(mass), slide, &” was premiered. In 2004/2005 Shirai appeared as a dancer in “The Devil’s Tale” (after Stravinsky's “The Soldier’s Tale”) by the Taiwanese company Yuri NG and in Kim Itoh’s “Forbidden Colours” (2005), based on a novel by Yukio Mishima. In the following season (2006/2007) he collaborated with the famous Arditti String Quartet, highly acclaimed for their performance of contemporary music, and in the frame of this collaboration toured six Japanese cities (Kanazawa, Masuda, Tokyo, Miyazaki, Iida, Itami), In 2006, he was awarded the Toyota Choreography Award, followed by the 1st Japan Dance Forum Award one year later. Since 2006, he works with “AbsT”, a new type of artist group, founded by himself, which presented it’s first work “subsoil” in February 2007. In that same year, for his Toyota Choreograph prize-winner’s performance, he invited five composers/musicians to collaborate with him, the result of this collaboration was “THECO”, premiered at Theatre Tram. Also in 2007, he implemented a collaboration with the musician Makoto Nomura under the title “Makoto Nomura – Tsuyoshi Shirai× 21”.

CAST

Misako Terada (Dance)
Member of Ishii Academy de Ballet since 1987. In 1991, she formed a duo with Jareo Osamu. The duo won the first “TORII AWARD” in March 2002. The following July, the duo won an “award for choreographer of new generation (the first prize)” an “audience award” at Toyota Choreography Award 2002. She has performed as solo since 2006 and appeared in works by Setsuko Yamada and Zan Yamashita. In 2007, she premiered her first solo performance “AION” at the Setagaya Public Theater. She also holds the position as associate professor of the performing arts department at Kyoto University of Art and Design.

Yukio Suzuki (Dance)
He started butoh dance at Asbestos Studio in 1997 and has appeared in works by Ko Murobushi and SAL VANILLA. Since 2000 he has been active as “Kingyo (Goldfish)”. His documentary-like direction and choreography, juxtaposing compelling bodies of dancers, have received a lot of attention. Recently he has been active as a choreographer: performance at Yokohama Triennale, choreography for dancers at Tokyo City Ballet and participation to “Asia Dance Conference”. He has given workshops on his butoh method. He won an “award for choreographer of the next generation” at Toyota Choreography Award 2008. He is viewed as one of up-and-coming choreographers/dancers.

Yuji Inoue a.k.a.dill (Piano)
Composer. Born in 1976. He released two albums under the name of dill while he creates remixes and compilations for domestic and overseas artists and composes music for animations and fashion shows. He has written music for numerous contemporary dance artists such as Tsuyoshi Shirai, Kim Ito, Yuri NG and Maki Morishita. His 3rd album “Opera (working title)” will be released soon.

Miwako Takahashi (Vocal)
She studied piano and singing at Kunitachi College of Music. She has participated in albums by Yuji Inoue (dill) as a vocalist.

Chiharu Terada (Accordion)
She has performed in various genres: classical music, chanson and tango, just to name a few. She has appeared as a guest with domestic and overseas orchestras and chamber ensembles, and composed and arranged music for stages and videos. She won the second prize at the JAA national accordion contest. She performs, plans and produces for Ensemble Rainett, a performers group. Recently she actively incorporates Spanish music into her repertories and has received attention for her collaborations with Spanish picture book writers and painters.

Toshio Terada (Guitar)
After performing with the Cordova Quartet, he became a guitarist exclusively for Asahi Broadcasting Corporation. While performing for numerous stage, musicals and TV programs, he founded “Ensemble Rainett”, a performers group for children and families. Currently he is the representative of the group, and performs in variety of concerts.