Dates: December 5(Friday)-9(Tuesday)
Venue: Dance Base Yokohama 1F/3F

Dance Base Yokohama (DaBY) is both a creative residency for artists from Japan and abroad and a hub for community engagement through workshops and experimental tryouts.
 In August, DaBY opened a new studio on the first floor, complementing its existing third-floor space. This year, we are delighted to welcome YPAM participants into both studios.
The diverse program, co-produced with Aichi Prefectural Art Theater, spans a wide spectrum of movement styles—from butoh to hip hop—and also includes family-friendly works.
The artists are supported through two dedicated initiatives:, the “Wings” project, led by Dance Base Yokohama and the “Constellation” project, led by Aichi Prefectural Art Theater. Both initiatives are made possible through multi-year funding from the Japan Creator Support Fund, which is designed to foster the creation of new works and enable opportunities for international touring.

◆Performances

Dance Base Yokohama International Dance Project “Wings” for Emerging Creators
・Teita Iwabuchi The Great Afternoon: the soft machine xxx
・Ayaka Ono Akira Nakazawa Spacenotblank Dance Piece No.3: Naoya Shiga “At Kinosaki”
・Mariko Kakizaki hopee
・Ryu Suzuki TAMA
・Moto Takahashi Faintly Here

Constellation～Aichi Prefectural Art Theater Dance Project Connecting the World～
・Null LiMBO
・Ruri Mito Michiru – Brimming

*Ruri Conan Amok “R/evolution (s)” is only for YPAM professionals at Forum Minami-Ota

Artistic Director: Eri Karatsu (Aichi Prefectural Art Theater / Dance Base Yokohama)

◆Schedule

◆Outline of work

Teita Iwabuchi The Great Afternoon: the soft machine xxx [Wings] December 5 (Fri) 19:00 Dance Base Yokohama 3F

Teita Iwabuchi developed the “ecstatic body theory,” an expressive methodology inspired by butoh, martial arts, and Lao Tzu, and his creative activities have been deeply influenced by the late Ko Murobushi’s butoh performances, which he continues to perform today. He began his research with the idea that “this body is a soft machine with a rich and precise mechanism that cannot yet be reproduced by modern technology. Using the concept of “space technology” proposed by Hong Kong-born philosopher Yuk Hui as a guide, he has unraveled “butoh,” “martial arts,” “ancient relics,” and “art from all ages and cultures,” etc., to see technology not as a mere tool but as “a way of relating to the world” in each culture, and to discover “technological diversity” instead of the single view of technology that covers the world. We will discover the “diversity of technology” from the single view of technology that covers the world. The “soft machines” that emerge from this body of work (local and localized!), where multiple technologies and sensations are intermingled, are “soft machines”. The dance of the “soft machines” that emerge from this body (local and localized!), where multiple technologies and senses are intermingled. It will be savage and elegant at the same time.

Direction / Choreography / Performance: Teita IWABUCHI
Performance: Kaho KOGURE, Naoyuki SAKAI
Dramaturg: Haruto NIWA (Dance Base Yokohama)
Music: Takashi SUGAWA
Costume: Kyoko FUJITANI
Understudy: Yu OTSUKI

▶︎Work details

Ayaka Ono Akira Nakazawa Spacenotblank Dance Piece No.3: Naoya Shiga “At Kinosaki” [Wings] December 5 (Fri) 19:00 Dance Base Yokohama 3F

Ayaka Ono Akira Nakazawa Spacenotblank is a performing arts collective 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 seek to establish artistic practices emerging from this mechanism. For this creative process, they draw inspiration from Naoya Shiga’s novel “At Kinosaki,” conducting research and creative development during a residency at the Kinosaki International Art Center. While engaging with the novel’s content, the circumstances of its writing, and the writer’s process of transforming personal experience into expression, they explore new forms of embodiment and “expression” for those living in the present age.

Inspired by Naoya Shiga At Kinosaki (1917)
(References: Naoya Shiga, At Kinosaki, Annotated At Kinosaki. NPO Books and Onsen, 2013)
Choreography and Direction: Ayaka ONO & Akira NAKAZAWA
Creation and Performance with : Hokuto KODAMA, Ayako SAITOH, Sayaka TATEYAMA
Rehearsal Director: Shizuka YAMAGUCHI
Music: mmm
Scenography: Takuya KAMIIKE

*Trigger Warning
This dance work is based on the novel In Kinosaki by Naoya Shiga. The original text contains descriptions of a train accident, imagining human death, the deaths of insects and animals, and animal cruelty. These may evoke painful memories or discomfort for some individuals. While this work does not directly depict these scenes, we advise those who may be sensitive to such content to exercise caution when engaging with the original novel.

▶︎Work details

Mariko Kakizaki hopee [Wings] December 9 (Tue) 12:00 Dance Base Yokohama 3F

hopee is a pop and stylish dance work created with the aim of allowing parents and children to enjoy watching together, based on Kakizaki’s own parenting experience. Created by layering images of vibrant, playful parks and dizzying playground equipment, this work is enjoyable for both children and adults. It asks the audience which they would rather keep in their hearts: the expectation that swells again and again, or the loneliness that is lost each time. As the pure gaze of children reflects and spreads across the stage, the children of the past will remember the vastness of the world.

*Play time will be scheduled after the show.

Direction / Choreography / Performance: Mariko KAKIZAKI
Assistant Choreography: Haruka SUZUKI
Performance: Nagisa YOSHIDA, Liel FIBAK
Music: ICHI
Senography: Maki NAGAMINE
Costume: Shinya WATANABE

*Please check before viewing
Please be sure to check before you watch the show.
For the safety of the children and dancers, please protect the seating area.
Children are allowed to talk and laugh. Please forget that you are the parents.

▶︎ details of works


Ryu Suzuki TAMA [Wings] December 9 (Tue) 18:00 Dance Base Yokohama 3F

Kendama is a traditional toy beloved by many Japanese people, and for Suzuki, its physicality and rhythm have been deeply ingrained since childhood. This work TAMA takes inspiration from the word that means both “ball” and “soul,” and is an attempt to approach the essence of the self through the repetitive movements of kendama. The continuous simple movements gradually create a hypnotic state, blurring the boundaries between self and body, and consciousness. Through the decomposition of body and sound, this experimental self-portrait work depicts the uncertainty of the existence called “I” and the gap in sensations surrounding the self.

Direction / Choreography / Performance: Ryu SUZUKI
Performance: Yu OKAMOTO
Music: Fumiya OTONASHI, tatsukiamano
Costume: Kyoko FUJITANI

▶︎Work details

Moto Takahashi Faintly Here [Wings] December 6 (Sat) 17:30 Dance Base Yokohama 1F

Exploring a style that fuses hip-hop and classical ballet, Moto Takahashi toured abroad for the first time in two U.S. cities last year with his dance company MWMW. Inspired by a Japanese ghost story, Takahashi wrote a poetic tale from scratch as the core of this dance work, which is composed through physical expression that transcends words. The space changes its form from moment to moment, and time and space flow with their own breath. Memories that you have shared with someone else, moments that you may have shared with someone else. To touch it without averting the eyes and ears. A touch. The approaching presence tests the extent to which one’s senses are open. This work depicts a ghost story for the sake of a small communion with the things that appear in the world around us.

Direction / Choreography / Performance / Music: Moto TAKAHASHI
Performance: Yuria ONISHI, Yuki NAKATANI
Performance Vision Enabler: Chieko ITO

▶︎Work details

Null LiMBO [Constellation] December 6 (Sat) 16:00 Dance Base Yokohama 3F

Null is a contemporary dance duo consisting of Reina Okada and Yu Kuroda. This work depicts the complex anxieties and hopes in modern society, such as “self-defense” and “isolation,” “reassurance through imitation” and “loss of individuality,” with sharp physical sensibilities. Three cubes constantly change their meaning and symbolism as shelters, boundaries, towers, etc., questioning the audience about “their own position.”
Premiere scheduled for May 2026 at Aichi Prefectural Art Theater.

Choreography / Performance: Reina OKADA, Yu KURODA
Performance: Kotaro SENGOKU

▶︎Work details

Ruri Mito Michiru – Brimming [Constellation] December 6 (Sat) 12:00 Dance Base Yokohama 1F

Ruri Mito, a choreographer who has continued to explore the fundamental movements of the body and the subtle expression of emotions in her numerous works, will present Michiru – Brimming, her first creation since becoming a dance artist at Aichi Prefectural Art Theater in April 2025. Focusing on the body and senses in the present, this work quietly accompanies the viewer’s breath and body, and presents the richness of simply “being. Under the live performance of Akira Uchida, who plays the delicate tones of the clavichord, the prototype of the piano, four dancers will attempt to see the invisible, valuing invisible wind, smells, and sensations that touch the skin, among others.

Direction / Choreography: Ruri MITO
Performance: Konami SAKATA、Mariko SHIBATA、Maho TAKAHASHI、Risa MAKINO
Music / Performance: Akira UCHIDA
Costume: Tomoko INAMURA

▶︎Work details

◆Accessibility

*We also provide support for visitors in wheelchairs and those who need information security.
If you need any support, please contact us at the following e-mail address:
contact@dancebase.yokohama

[Example]
Written communication support for those who are deaf or hard of hearing
Cases where a blind person participates with a carer, etc.

*Multipurpose toilets
Each venue has wheelchair-accessible
Dance Base Yokohama: Next to the supermarket across from the venue
Forum Minami-Ota: 1F of the venue

◆Credit

Organized by: Dance Base Yokohama
Planned and co-produced by: Dance Base Yokohama, Aichi Prefectural Art Theater
Supported by: Fund for Strengthening Infrastructure for Arts and Cultural Activities (Supporting the Development of Creators and Cultural Facilities with High Added Value*) ｜Japan Arts Council

*Creator & Artist Development Support Program: Conan Amok R/evolution(s), Teita Iwabuchi The Great Afternoon: the soft machine xxx, Ayaka Ono Akira Nakazawa Spacenotblank Dance Piece No. 3: Naoya Shiga “At Kinosaki”, Mariko Kakizaki hopee, Ryu Suzuki TAMA, Moto Takahashi Faintly Here
*Support Program for Cultural Facilities Function Enhancement: Null LiMBO, Ruri Mito Michiru – Brimming