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 modern dance and classical ballet, but became instantly fascinated by butoh in 1963 when he met Kazuo Ohno, one of the founders of this dance form. But he abruptly stopped dancing in 1979, dissolved his troupe and went to Germany where he stayed for six years to study eurhythmy and anthroposophy. Now based in Japan, his recent performances include Spinning Spiral Shaking Strobe (Tokyo Globe Theater, 2000), Blue Sky Vol.2 (2000), Tinctura II (Columbia College, Chicago, 2000), and Pollen Revolution (Tokyo, 2001; New York’s Japan Society, 2002; US Tour 2004; and Mexico, 2005).