Akiko Kitamura
Dancer/Choreographer Professor of J. F. Oberlin University
Akiko Kitamura is a choreographer, dancer, and director whose diverse background spans ballet, street dance, and Indonesian martial arts. In 1994, while pursuing her MA at the Graduate School of Letters, Arts, and Sciences at Waseda University, she founded her dance company, Leni Basso. In 1995, she stayed in Berlin as a trainee under the Agency for Cultural Affairs’ Overseas Training Program for Artists. Since returning to Japan, she has implemented her own choreographic theory, the “Grid System,” developing a signature directing style that integrates dance, light, rhythm, and visual imagery.
Kitamura was commissioned to present her work at the 2001 Bates Dance Festival and the 2003 American Dance Festival (ADF) in the United States. Her piece enact oneself, choreographed for the ADF, was named the “Best Dance of the Year” in North Carolina. One of her masterpieces, finks (2001), has been performed in over 60 cities worldwide and was awarded “Best Dance Piece of the Year” by Montreal’s Hour Magazine in 2005. She also created ghostly round for the Haus der Kulturen der Welt in Berlin, which received high international acclaim.
In 2010, Kitamura launched her solo career and began leading international co-productions, including To Belong (with Indonesia) and Cross Transit (with South East and South Asian countries). These works have been performed at prestigious venues such as the Japan Society in New York and the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. In 2018, her work vox soil, which premiered at the Kanagawa Arts Theatre (KAAT), won the 13th Japan Dance Forum (JaDaFo) Award Grand Prix.
In 2020, she initiated Echoes of Calling, a project crossing the borders of Ireland, Central Asia, and Japan. By 2023, she launched the “Xstream Project,” a new international collaboration with Asian countries. Her works Soul Hunter and Echoes of Calling – Rainbow After both received the 18th Japan Dance Forum Award Grand Prix. In 2025, she premiered The Long Strong Happy Death, the second installment of the Xstream Project.
Kitamura’s research focuses on “the use of the human body as a medium” in practical theatre, applying theories of physical movement, direction, and dance. Grounded in the concept of “physical thinking,” she continues to explore the profound potential of the human body and the meaningful communication generated through creative artistic performance.