The “Performing Arts Selection” is a showcase of various forms of physical expression held annually by Dance Base Yokohama (DaBY) and Aichi Prefectural Art Theater since 2021 in cooperation with local theaters and festivals. The Iwaki Alios will host the event for the second time, following the first in 2022! This year, Mariko Kakizaki and Ayaka Ono Akira Nakazawa Nakazawa Yo Nakazawa Space Not Blank, who participated in a collaborative talk between Iwaki Alios and DaBY that started in 2024, will perform a new piece created through the “Wings” project. The body of ”now” will emerge from different perspectives, including the experience of raising a child and Japanese literature. Children and adults alike are invited to enjoy these two works together.
Wings is supported by the Japan Creator Support Fund, a fund established by the Japan Arts Council with a subsidy from the Agency for Cultural Affairs to strengthen the foundation for cultural and artistic activities, and will be presented internationally.

◆Performances

Mariko Kakizaki “hopee

©︎HATORI Naoshi

Based on Kakizaki’s own experience of raising a child, “hopee” is a pop and stylish dance piece created for parents and children to enjoy together in a relaxed atmosphere. Created with overlapping images of vivid, playful parks and dazzling playground equipment, this work can be enjoyed by both children and adults.
It asks the audience which they would rather keep more in their hearts: the sense of anticipation that grows again and again, or the loneliness that is lost each time. As the pure gazes of the children reflect and spread across the stage, the children of the past will be reminded of the vastness of the world.

Direction, Choreography, Performance: Mariko Kakizaki
Choreography Assistant, Performance: Haruka Suzuki
Co-choreography, Performance: Karim, Liel Fibak
Music: ICHI
Art: Maki Nagamine
Costume: Shinya Watanabe
Producer: Eri Karatsu (Dance Base Yokohama / Aichi Prefectural Art Theater)
Stage Manager: Yoshinori Sekoguchi (Aichi Prefectural Art Theater) Technical Design: Takayuki Fujimoto (Kinsei R&D) Production: Mariehide Takimoto (Aichi Arts Theatre)
Lighting Design: Takayuki Fujimoto (Kinsei R&D)
Technical Design: arsaffix Inc.
Production: Marihide Takimoto
Cooperation: Picnic Room, Inc. and Kitanakadori Kita Park Patronage Association

▶︎Work details


*Please check before viewing
・Please enter and exit freely.
Please keep the seating area for the safety of the children and dancers.
Children are allowed to talk and laugh. Please forget that you are the parents.

Ayaka Ono Akira Nakazawa Nakazawa Spacenotblank “Dance Work No. 3: “At the Castle” by Naoya Shiga

©︎HATORI Naoshi

Ayaka Ono Akira Nakazawa Nakazawa Spacenotblank is a duo of stage artists who have explored all the values of the performing arts and developed a new movement mechanism for the body called “physical catharsis. This work is the third in a series of dance works that attempt to establish the practices that emerge from this mechanism. For this creation, they used Naoya Shiga’s novel “At Kinosaki” as their original idea, and engaged in research and creation through a residency at the Kinosaki International Art Center. While referring to the content of the novel, the background of writing, and the context of the writer’s act of transforming his experience into creation, we will explore the form of “expression” for those of us living in the present age.

Original idea: Naoya Shiga, “At Shironozaki” (1917)
(Reference: Naoya Shiga, “At Shironozaki”, “Annotation: At Shironozaki”, NPO Hon to Onsen [2013])
Choreography and direction: Ayaka Ono, Yo Nakazawa
Cast: Hokuto Kodama, Ayako Saito, Sumi Tateyama
Rehearsal director: Shizuka Yamaguchi
Music: mmm
Production Design: Kamiike Takuya
Producer: Eri Karatsu (Dance Base Yokohama / Aichi Prefectural Art Theater)
Technical Director: Chikage Yuyama
Stage Manager: Rion Moribe
Sound: Yomiaki Sakurauchi
Lighting: Nami Nakayama, Naomi Koyanaka
Production: Yuka Kamimura (Dance Base Yokohama)
Production Cooperation: Space Not Blank
Residence Cooperation: Kinosaki International Art Center (Toyooka, Japan)
Residence Cooperation (Chef): Natsuki Ota
Research Cooperation: NPO DANCE BOX, Kinosaki Onsen Mikiya, Sueyoyama Onsenji
Cooperation: Iwaki Ballet Company, Saito DANCE Kobo, Ayako Watanabe

▶︎Work details

*Trigger Alert
The following trigger alert regarding this dance work is posted. This dance piece is based on the novel “At the Castle” by Naoya Shiga. The original novel contains depictions of train accidents, imagined human deaths, insect and animal deaths, and animal abuse, and may evoke painful memories and feelings of dislike in some people. If you are concerned about these contents, please keep them in mind when reading the original novel. Please note that there are no scenes in this dance work that directly deal with these depictions.

◆Schedule

Mariko Kakizaki “hopee”
Large Rehearsal Room
Saturday, January 31, 2026
Doors open: 12:55 Concert begins: 13:00
Registration opens 20 minutes before the show, doors open 5 minutes before the show

Ayaka Ono Akira Nakazawa Nakazawa Nakazawa Spacenotblank “Dance Work No. 3: Naoya Shiga “At the Castle””
GS Yuasa Iwaki Small Theater
Saturday, January 31, 2026
Doors open: 13:40 Concert begins: 14:00

◆Venue

Iwaki Arts Center Alios
1-6, Misaki, Taira, Iwaki, Fukushima 970-8026, Japan

◆Rates

Release date: Friday, 2025/10/10 at 10:00

All seats unreserved (with serial number)
2-work set ticket (discount)/3,000yen 13-25yrs 1,500yen
1-work / 2,000yen 13-25yrs 1,000yen 4-12yrs 500yen
*”hopee” : 3yrs and under free (on lap)
*”Dance Work No.3: Naoya Shiga “At JONOZAKI”” : 3yrs and under not admitted
*U 25 requires a certificate on the day of the performance
*Wheelchair seats are available at Arios Ticket Center (0246-22-5800).

◆Application

WEB: Ticket Guide
Telephone: 0246-22-5800｜Arios Ticket Center (10:00-20:00 / closed on Tuesdays)
*Please be careful not to dial the wrong phone number.

◆Care services

Childcare service is available for this performance (“Dance Work No. 3: Naoya Shiga ‘At Jyonosaki'” only) (free of charge, first-come-first-served basis)
Target: 1 year old to 6th grade elementary school students
Please make a reservation and apply to Arios Ticket Center (0246-22-5800) by Saturday, January 10, 2026.

◆Profile

©︎Yurie Nagashima

Mariko Kakizaki
Mariko Kakizaki

Dancer and choreographer. Former rhythmic gymnast, born in Kagawa, Japan. In 2021, she opened a culture center “beq” in Kumamoto, aiming to provide a place where people can enjoy culture and art in a casual way. He is the organizer of “GAMAMA” and conducts online workshops, etc. He is a Gaga instructor and creator of DaBY Wings.

©︎Dan Bellman

Ayaka Ono Akira Nakazawa Spacenotblank
Ayaka Ono Akira Nakazawa Spacenotblank

Founded in 2012 by Ayaka Ono and Yo Nakazawa, a duo of stage writers, as a collective for the creation of performing arts works. By integrating the established concepts of the performing arts with new mechanisms of their own research and development, they continue to explore the state of the performing arts in the modern age and attempt to create diverse values. In 2025, he was invited to join Regional Theatre 2025 Iwaki Alios Theatre Club Plus. He is the creator of DaBY Wings, and is also the director of the new work “Project Theatre (tentative)” as an artist.

◆Credit

Organizer: Dance Base Yokohama [SEGA SAMMY Foundation for Arts and Culture]
Co-Organizer: Iwaki Arts Center Alios
Planning/Co-Production: Dance Base Yokohama, Aichi Prefectural Art Theater [Aichi Arts Foundation]
Grant-in-Aid: The Foundation for Strengthening Infrastructure for Arts and Cultural Activities (a project for fostering creators and supporting high value-added cultural facilities) Support for the development of creators and cultural facilities with high added value)
Japan Arts Council