April 6, 2024
2:00–3:00pm
Ark Dance Studio

Please join us for a work-in-progress showing of the new work that Eiko Otake and Wen Hui will create during the residency. A Q&A discussion will follow the showing, moderated by the Director of the American Dance Festival, Jodee Nimerichter. A reception will take place right after the Q&A during which you could meet and converse with the artists.

Duke University
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The world is at “90 seconds to midnight,” the closest it has ever been, according to the Doomsday Clock of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists. However alarming this prognosis is, nuclear disaster has long been in the making, demonstrated by decades of Indigenous, Third World, and feminist anti-nuclear advocacy. For decades, these advocates have recognized that nuclear and environmental threats and harms are intrinsically connected through legal, political, and economic structures of imperialism.

“Disarming Toxic Empire” will bring fresh, transnational, and interdisciplinary approaches to peace, nuclear disarmament, and environmental justice. Participants will consider and contest the unjust, imperial histories and geographies of nuclear testing, production, storage, and weaponry. The conference will bring together academics, advocates, and artists working through intergenerational channels of memory and justice to respond to nuclear toxicity in all its forms and manifestations, in sites ranging from the Navajo Nation and the Pacific Islands to Japan, North Africa, and Ghana.

The conference will open with a keynote address by 2017 Nobel Peace Prize winner Beatrice Fihn, former executive director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN). It will end with a performance of A Body in Fukushima by the movement–based interdisciplinary artist Eiko Otake.

Hosted by the Sissy Farenthold Fund for Peace and Social Justice of the Rapoport Center, the conference is a collaborative effort among many institutions at the University of Texas and beyond. Fihn’s keynote event is sponsored by the Swedish Excellence Endowment, the Barbro Osher Pro Suecia Foundation Excellence Endowment, and Texas Global.

University of Texas at Austin
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Join the Department of Performing and Media Arts on Saturday, February 17th for A Body in Places, a solo performance by artist Eiko Otake and a screening of No Rule is Our Rule followed by a Q&A. Free and open to all.

Performance: Saturday, Feb. 17 from 3:00 p.m. - 3:45 p.m., Mui Ho Fine Arts Library (2nd Floor, Rand Hall, 947 University Ave, Ithaca, NY)

Screening: Saturday, Feb. 17 from 7:00pm - 9:00 p.m., Film Forum, Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts (430 College Ave, Ithaca, NY)

A Body in Places is a solo performance by internationally acclaimed Japanese-American movement-based interdisciplinary artist Eiko Otake. Performing alone in a public site, her body activates and disrupts particular places. In turn, each place offers a different focus and meaning to her choreography. The project began with a 12-hour performance at Philadelphia's 30th Street Station. Since then, Eiko has created variations of A Body in Places as place-specific work and performed at over 70 sites, including three different buildings at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In addition, Eiko has performed in many locations of post-nuclear meltdown Fukushima for her multi-year work A Body in Fukushima, her collaboration with historian and photographer William Johnston. The project has produced exhibitions, screenings, lectures, and performances, a photography book, and a feature-length documentary that premiered in MoMA in 2022. "With A Body in Places, I have always imagined digging a hole through the earth to connect each of my performance sites with Fukushima. I want to let my audiences see, among the bodies of the other viewers, my immigrant body carrying Fukushima tucked inside it," explains Eiko. At Cornell, Eiko will perform A Body in a Library in the remarkable Mui Ho Fine Arts Library, intimately conversing with the library's books and architecture, as well as its visitors. In the past, she performed in public libraries in Middletown, CT; Toronto, Canada; Pittsfield, MA; and Durham and Raleigh, NC.

"A library is a quiet place. Dance is a visual and kinesthetic art, so seeing me there, silence could become more visible and profound." — Eiko Otake

No Rule is Our Rule is a 76-minute documentary film about the friendship of two fiercely independent, interdisciplinary Asian female dance artists, Eiko Otake and Wen Hui. Following Eiko’s two-week visit to China in January 2020, their collaboration and subsequent conversations delve into their lives in post-WII Japan and the Occupation and China's Cultural Revolution, respectively, and their distinct cultural memories that intersect in the shared trauma of the Sino-Japanese War and the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic in China. No Rule is Our Rule is in collaboration with director Yiru Chen and won Best Feature Documentary at the Japan International Film Festival in 2023. The film screening will be immediately followed by an Artist Q&A Session, culminating the daylong event series.

Cornell University Department of Performing & Media Arts
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Eiko Otake returns to Asia Society for a performative dialogue at the intersection of movement and visual art. Known to past Asia Society audiences as a part of Eiko & Koma, Eiko will reflect on the life and work of her grandfather Otake Chikuha, whose painting Fall of the Castle (1902) is currently on view as a part of Meiji Modern: Fifty Years of New Japan at the Asia Society Museum. With projections of his artwork, family photos, and writings, Eiko will share episodic knowledge about her grandfather's life and artistry in the context of her own journey as an artist. Photographer and historian William Johnston will join Eiko onstage in reimagining Chikuha within the rapid social, cultural, and political changes that occurred during the Meiji (1868-1912) and ensuing Taisho (1912-1926) eras for today’s audiences.

Asia Society Museum
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Tuesday, November 7 (5:30PM)
EIKO OTAKE: A BODY WITH FUKUSHIMA
Co-presented by Aurora Picture Show and Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts
Location: Dudley Recital Hall, University of Houston, 4800 Calhoun Rd, Houston, TX 77004
Free Admission

Aurora and Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts are proud to present Japanese-born interdisciplinary artist Eiko Otake’s solo performance project, A Body with Fukushima. Eiko spent four years of her childhood in a prefecture next to Fukushima. After the region was hit with multiple disasters including an earthquake, a tsunami, and the explosions of the Daiichi nuclear plant, Eiko visited the irradiated Fukushima five times with a historian and photographer William Johnston. Experiencing a deep sense of regret for human-made environmental disaster, Eiko danced alone hoping to use her body as a conduit to people who are far away and to future generations. Eiko has presented this project in various forms, including exhibitions, a photo book, and a film. Here, she will perform live within an installation of moving image projections. A Body with Fukushima presents a powerful embodiment of grief, upset, and remorse while bringing together the present, past and the landscape of post-earthquake Fukushima through and with Eiko’s body. There will be an artist talk and Q&A following the performance.

Dudley Recital Hall is located on the first floor of the Fine Arts building, on the campus of University of Houston (use Entrance #16 or #18). Click on this link for a map and paid parking directions. 

Aurora Picture Show
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EIKO OTAKE: I Invited Myself, vol. III is the third iteration of Eiko Otake’s I Invited Myself, an exhibition series that the artist started in 2022. Following the first iteration showcased at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the second iteration at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, Asian Arts Initiative and The Fabric Workshop and Museum have partnered to present different versions of EIKO OTAKE: I Invited Myself in Philadelphia. The institutions have worked together and alongside the artist to present specific aspects of Otake’s expansive practice. 

The reception will be held in our gallery from 3–5pm and is open to all. The screening and performance, held in our theater, has limited seating and requires registration. A screening of Slow Turn, co-commissioned by Lower Manhattan Council, NYU Skirball, and Battery Park City in 2021 in commemorating the 20th Anniversary of the September 11 Attacks, will be followed by a live performance by Eiko Otake. Two showings will be presented, one at 3pm and again at 4:30pm. Please select the time you wish to attend through the registration link. 

Asian Arts Initiative
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July 7 @ 5:00 pm

Join us for a special First Friday celebration from 5–8 p.m. featuring a live performance with Eiko Otake and David Harrington followed by an artist talk.

Evening includes:

• FREE museum admission — see what’s on view

• 5:30–7:30 p.m. Eiko Otake and David Harrington performance followed by artist talk with Philip Bither, Senior Curator for the Performing Arts, Walker Arts Center, Minneapolis*

• 5:30–7:30 p.m. Roma Ransom will be playing in Deco Lounge

• Art in Deco Lounge by Alan Baccarella

• FREE downtown shuttle, THE ZEB, running along Tejon Street to downtown art galleries

*In celebration of Otake’s solo exhibition I Invited Myself, vol. II, the Department of Theater and Dance at Colorado College is posting a series of two-day events in the Colorado Springs community.

In this site-specific performance, Otake will perform a series of actions in different museum locations while leading audiences to her exhibition on the second floor. Audiences should be prepared to follow Otake and find places to sit or stand in each location. Please be mindful that site-specific performances do not always offer clear sightlines, leaving it to audiences to discover how to best arrange themselves in the moment. There will be limited seating available for audience members who need physical support during the performance. Audience members may request mobility/physical assistance at patron services.

Please RSVP for the performance and talk on July 7

All events are free and open to the public.

Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College
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July 6 @ 6:00 pm

A Conversation & Performance with Eiko Otake & David Harrington

6 p.m. Cemetery as a Place for Art and Reflection:
Public talk with Harry Weil, Vice-President of Education and Public Programs, Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, NY

Preceding the With the Dead performance, this a public talk will draw attention to cemeteries as contemplative and complex sites in which history, memories, community, and artistry converge. Harry Weil will converse with Evergreen Cemetery Director Cheryl D. Godbout and Dianne Hartshorn representing Heritage Evergreen.

Cemeteries are places of memory and contemplation, where a community’s stories and histories lie, where we are reminded of our mortality. During the pandemic, Eiko performed in two cemeteries to reflect on and converse with the dead.

You can’t really come to the cemetery and not think about death or the people who have died. We know more about living. But we all die. I thought that performing was my practice of dying. But the practice of dying is not dying. We learn about death by attending to other people’s dying. But we also learn about death by missing the dead. —Eiko Otake

7 p.m. With the Dead
performance

As Eiko Otake’s six-month exhibition at the Fine Art Center at Colorado College nears its closing on July 30, Eiko will return to Colorado Springs with David Harrington, the artistic director and founder of the world-renowned Kronos Quartet. Their long-time friendship is matched by their international recognition as some of the most notable performing artists working today. With the Dead is an adaptation of Otake’s 2020 performance at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, NY. Colorado Springs community members and former students of Eiko will join these two distinguished artists in their performance at the historic Evergreen Cemetery so we can collectively reflect on dying and the dead.

I dance thinking about the recent dead, and the dead from the past centuries, including many whose graves were never built. —Eiko Otake

8 p.m. Reception

Eiko and David will talk with audience members and participants.

In celebration of Otake’s solo exhibition I Invited Myself, vol. II, the Department of Theater and Dance at Colorado College is hosting a series of two-day events in the Colorado Springs community.

All events are free and open to the public.

The Historic Evergreen Cemetery
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“No string quartet has ever been so popular or has had so wide an audience, globally and culturally” (Los Angeles Times). The trailblazing Kronos Quartet continues to rewrite the rules of the string quartet, proving time and again the urgent relevance of the beloved art form. In its anticipated return to Carnegie Hall, the ensemble showcases its virtuosity and adventuresome spirit across a diverse collection of works written or arranged for the quartet—including four pieces co-commissioned by Carnegie Hall as part of Kronos Quartet’s singular Fifty for the Future project.

Performers
Kronos Quartet
·· David Harrington, Violin
·· John Sherba, Violin
·· Hank Dutt, Viola
·· Sunny Yang, Cello

with Special Guests
Soo Yeon Lyuh, Haegeum
Eiko Otake, Movement Artist
Peni Candra Rini, Vocals and Rebab
Vân-Ánh Võ, Đàn bầu

Program

ANGÉLIQUE KIDJO YanYanKliYan Senamido #2 (arr. Jacob Garchik; co-commissioned by Carnegie Hall)
PENI CANDRA RINI Maduswara (arr. Jacob Garchik; co-commissioned by Carnegie Hall)
AFTAB DARVISHI Daughters of Sol (co-commissioned by Carnegie Hall)
SOO YEON LYUH Yessori (Sound from the Past) (co-commissioned by Carnegie Hall)
MAZZ SWIFT She Is A Story, Herself (NY Premiere)
EIKO OTAKE eyes closed (World Premiere)
MARY KOUYOUMDJIAN I Haven’t the Words (NY Premiere)
VÂN-ÁNH VÕ Adrift (NY Premiere)
NICOLE LIZÉE ZonelyHearts (NY Premiere)

Carnegie Hall
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Please join us for an informal showing by CAP Artist in Residence, Eiko Otake.

Eiko is developing a new piece that further explores the relationship of bodies to space.

Sunday November 20 at 5PM in the Royce Hall Rehearsal Room.

The presentation will be followed by a short discussion with Eiko and her collaborators.

Space is limited. Please RSVP by Friday, Nov. 18.

Saturday, September 10 at 7PM

The Duet Project is a series of duets between Eiko Otake and a diverse group of collaborating artists, living and dead. Collaborators come from different places, times and artistic disciplines. These duets will investigate how two artists collide and express what they care about.

ASU Gammage
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Thursday, September 1 at 5PM

Join us for the premiere of an intimate, site-specific performance by Eiko Otake for the exhibition Beverly McIver: Full Circle. Artists Beverly McIver and Ishmael Houston-Jones will perform alongside Eiko within the exhibition, moving through the galleries and engaging with the artwork. The audience will be in the galleries amongst the performers for a truly special experience. There will be no seating available for this event, so please plan to be standing or walking for the duration of the performance. 

Beverly McIver and Eiko Otake 

Eiko Otake first became acquainted with Beverly McIver and her artwork in 2018. The rigorous self-reflection and impermanence of the body depicted in McIver’s paintings, as well as her vigorous brushstrokes, strongly resonated with Eiko. Shortly after, McIver visited Japan to meet Eiko’s mother, but her mother passed away just before McIver’s arrival. McIver was present as Eiko’s family tended to her mother’s body and prepared for the funeral, and she thoughtfully documented the cultural rituals surrounding death during her time in Japan. Throughout this process, McIver found that mourning and grief spans cultures, and although it may look slightly different, experiencing grief is a commonality amongst all cultures. McIver’s paintings depicting this intimate experience helped Eiko reflect more deeply about her mother’s death. McIver and Eiko have since created performances together—inspired by the work that McIver created from her time in Japan with Eiko and her family—including most recently at Duke University in 2019. Several of these paintings are included in the exhibition Beverly McIver: Full Circle.   

The presentation of Eyes Closed/Eyes Open: A Performance by Eiko Otake was made possible by the New England Foundation for the Arts’ National Dance Project with lead funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. This performance is in conjunction with Beverly McIver: Full Circle, additional support provided by National Endowment for the Arts.

Tickets: $30

Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art
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On September 11, 2021, Eiko Otake will perform at 7am and 6pm at Belvedere Plaza in Battery Park City by the Hudson River, directly west of where the Twin Towers once stood.

Marking 20 years since the 9/11 attacks, this free public event will be presented in partnership with NYU Skirball, Battery Park City Authority, and Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (LMCC).

Eiko & Koma were artists-in-residence in the North Tower throughout the year 2000. In 2002, on this very plaza, they premiered Offering: A Ritual of Mourning with David Krakauer, a composer and clarinet player. Offering was later presented with free admission in parks throughout Manhattan and in many cities around the world.

Created specifically for this occasion and this site, Eiko’s new piece, Slow Turn, centers on a monologue of her personal memories of that day and its aftermath. She has invited David Krakauer to perform short solo pieces to bookend her monologue, with Iris McCloughan as a dramaturg.

The piece starts at 7am where the sun reaches the plaza and the second performance at 6pm will end before the sun sets on the Hudson River.

A ticketed reservation is strongly advised. Walk-ups will receive a headset if available.

Presented in partnership with Battery Park City Authority and Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (LMCC). This project was made possible in part through the generous support of the National Endowment for the Arts, Con Edison’s Arts Al Fresco series, and the Mertz Gilmore Foundation.

NYU Skirball
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Start a Reaction Culminating Event
Saturday, August 7 from 4:30pm–7:30pm
Nuclear Energy Sculpture Plaza
5625 S Ellis Ave, Chicago, IL 60637
Open to the Public

The public is invited to attend an event staged on the University of Chicago campus at the original site of Chicago Pile-1, the birthplace of humanity’s first sustained nuclear reaction.

They Did Not Hesitate is a new site-specific performance work created and performed by MacArthur Fellow Eiko Otake. Born and raised in post-war Japan but a resident of New York since 1976, Eiko is a movement-based interdisciplinary artist. Combining movements and monologues, this ritual of mourning invites viewers to imagine what happened in Hiroshima and Nagasaki this week 76 years ago. Her frail, unadorned body will also intersect with the site of the first sustained nuclear chain reaction. Eiko asks: How can we stop celebrating the history of massive killings and technology that made it possible? How can we learn to hesitate against momentum? How can we survive?

Performances of They Did Not Hesitate by Eiko Otake will occur three times at the Henry Moore Nuclear Energy Sculpture Plaza on August 7th, at 5:00, 6:00, and 7:00 pm.

School of the Art Institute of Chicago
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Raindate: Saturday, May 23, 2021 at 8:30pm

Eiko Otake, Visiting Artist in Residence in Dance, debuts a newly updated, 75 minute rendering of A Body in Fukushima, edited over the course of 2020 during her virtual creative residency at Wesleyan. The film includes hundreds of photographs taken by John E. Andrus Professor of History and Professor of East Asian Studies, Science in Society, and Environmental Studies William Johnston of Eiko in the surreal, irradiated landscapes of post-nuclear meltdown Fukushima, Japan. Marking ten years since the earthquake and tsunami disaster in March 2011, the work traces their five trips to the evacuated, desolate environment, and includes never before seen images captured during their December 2019 visit. This special outdoor screening, the United States premiere of the work, will include a live performance by Eiko with an original score by violinist David Harrington, founder and artistic director of the Kronos Quartet.

Wesleyan University’s Center for the Arts
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A Toast to Downtown is LMCC’s first virtual celebration on December 9, 2020 at 7pm. LMCC will present Eiko with the Sam Miller Award for Performing Arts.

Lower Manhattan Cultural Council
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