“International Dance Selection in Commemoration of Tatsumi Hijikata 2023”
Entries are now opened!
This festival started in 2015 as “Odoru Akita” International Dance Festival in commemoration of Baku Ishii & Tatsumi Hijikata. Since then, the program has been organized in three-year cycles. The first year is the “Theme Festival,” in which dance companies from Japan and abroad are invited to perform under a set theme; the second year is the International Competition “Tatsumi Hijikata Memorial Award”; and the third year is the commemorative performance of the winners of the same competition.
The 1st International Competition “Tatsumi Hijikata Memorial Award” was held in 2017 and received 219 submissions from 16 countries around the world. Fifteen choreographers were selected through a video screening process, and their works were performed in Akita as finalists. The second edition was scheduled to be held in 2020, but the Corona disaster forced its cancellation for the third year in a row.
As a person involved in the performing arts, the past three years have been very difficult. As a result of our repeated trial and error, we have decided to change the name of the festival and re-launch it with a new concept this year.
Starting this year, “Odoru Akita” will be re-launched as the International Dance Festival “Odoru Akita” without the title of “Desai Ishii and Tatsumi Hijikata”. In line with this, the International Competition “Tatsumi Hijikata Memorial Award” will be renamed “International Dance Selection in Commemoration of Tatsumi Hijikata”. We have decided to make it less of a competition and more of a platform for new talents to showcase their works to the world at large.
This year’s “International Dance Selection in Commemoration of Tatsumi Hijikata 21023” will be attended by dance festival directors and producers from around the world as guests. Please take this opportunity to present your work in front of them and make a great leap forward to the world.
This program commemorates Tatsumi Hijikata, the founder of Butoh. However, the program is by no means limited to butoh. What we wish to honor and pass on is not the Butoh form or style that Hijikata created. It is the philosophy and challenging spirit of Hijikata, who was not bound by established concepts of dance, but overcame them and continued to pursue new forms of physical expression.
We are waiting for applications from choreographers with a strong will to overcome existing ideas of dance.
Josh Martin（Canada）
（Taiwan）
Seoljin Kim（Korea）
Josh Martin（Canada）
（Taiwan）
Reisa Shimojima（Japan）
Josh Martin（Canada）
◆Tatsumi Hijikata Memorial Award in 2017 Archive
“ODORU-AKITA” 2017 Finalist performance day 1
“ODORU-AKITA” 2017 Finalist performance day 2
“ODORU-AKITA” 2017 Finalist performance day 3
◆Application Requirements
●Date and Time
October 27, 2023 (Fri.) 19:00 – 1st group of finalists (5 works)
October 28 (Sat.) 19:00 – 2nd group of finalists (5 works)
October 29 (Sun.) 15:00 – 3rd group of finalists (5 works)
●Theater
Akita City Nigiwai Koryukan AU Multipurpose Hall
＞https://www.akita-nigiwai-au.jp/floor/3f/multihall
●Domestic Guests
Akaji Maro (Dairakudakan Captain, Butoh dancer, actor)
Tatsuro Ishii (Dance Critic)
Takao Norikoshi ( Dance critic, Official advisor of “Odoru Akita”)
●Overseas Guests (Plans)
Hosik Yu (Korea, Artistic Director of NDA Dance Festival)
Jeon Kwang-ryul (Korea, Director of Jeju Asian Improvisation Dance Festival)
NAM JUNG-HO (Korea, Artistic Director of National Contemporary Dance Company of Korea)
Daniel Yun (Hong Kong, Artistic Director of Hong Kong Dance Exchange)
Karen Cheung (Hong Kong, Dance Head of West Kowloon Cultural District )
Athelyna Swee (Singapore, Production Manager of cont-act Dance Festival)
Ole Khamchanla, (Laos, Artistic Director, of FANG MAE KHONG International Dance Festival)
Po-Yuan Chung (Taiwan, Artistic Director of Want to Dance Festival)
Joanna Wang（Taiwan, Program Director of Weiwuying Art Center）
Ofura Idel（Israel, Artistic Director of Jerusalem International Dance Week）
Mathjaz Farik (Slovenia, Artistic Director of Flota)
Batalita（Hungary, Artistic Director of Body Radical）
Elia Liloff ( Bulgaria, Artistic Director of One Dance Week)
Gwen Chang,( Luxembourg, Curetor, of Tjimur Arts Festival)
Tito Kask（Estonia, Artistic Director of the Bird Name Festival）
Vadim Kasparov（Russia, Artistic Director of Open Look International Dance Festival）
Jay Hirabayashi (Canada, Artistic Director, of Vancouver International Dance Festival)
Jodee Nimerichter (USA, Director of American Dance Festival)
Heyjol Gonzales Araya（Costa Rica, Artistic Director of Costa Rica Dance Festival）
●Eligibility
There are no eligibility restrictions regarding application.
There are no restrictions on nationality, age, dance genre, etc.
●Participation Fee
There is no participation fee. No performance fee will be paid, but we will provide hotel and daily allowance (3,000 yen per day per participant) during your stay in Akita.
●Works
We accept both new and old works. However, the performance time of the work must not exceed 20 minutes. Please note that this is the actual performance time, and the submitted video may be longer than 20 minutes. If the video exceeds 20 minutes, please indicate so.
No image editing or collage will be accepted for the video of your work. Please send us video footage that conveys the performance as it is on stage.
●How to apply
・Please fill out the application form below and submit.
・Please upload your application video to YouTube or your own website.
・If you are unable to do so, please send a compressed file by e-mail.
●Application Deadline
June 30 (Fri.), 2023, 24:00
●Finalists Announced
July 7 (Fri.), 2023 13:00
