Saburo Teshigawara
Photo: Norifumi Inagaki
Saburo Teshigawara
Saburo Teshigawara began his creative career in 1981 in his native Tokyo after studying plastic arts and classic ballet. In 1985, he formed KARAS with Kei Miyata and started group choreography along with their own activities. Since then, he and KARAS have been invited to perform every year in major cities around the world.
In addition to solo performances and his work with KARAS, Teshigawara has received international attention as a choreographer/director. In 1994/95 he choreographed for the Ballet Frankfurt at the invitation of William Forsythe, Le Sacre du Printemps for the Bayern National Ballet in 1999 and Netherland Dance Theater I in 2000. In February 2003, he was invited to choreograph a new piece AIR for the Paris Opera. Also, for the Ballet du Grand, Théâtre de Genève, he choreographed Para-Dice in 2002, and recently VACANT in May 2006.
He has keenly honed sculptural sensibilities and powerful sense of composition and command of space, as well as his decisive dance movements, all fuse to create a unique world that is his alone. Keen interests in music and space have led him to create site-specific works, and collaborations with various types of musicians.
Teshigawara has likewise received increasing international attention in the visual arts field, with art exhibitions, films/videos, as well as designing the sets, lighting and costumes for all his performances.
Besides the ongoing workshops at the KARAS studio in Tokyo, he has been involved in many educational projects. S.T.E.P. (Saburo Teshigawara Education Project) has continued since 1995 with the partners in the UK, in a program that creates performances as the culmination of year-long projects. In 2004, he was selected as a mentor of dance for The Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative, to work for one year with a chosen protégé（https://www.rolex.org/rolex-mentor-protege）. In 2006, he has begun teaching as a special instructor in the Department of Expression Studies, the College of Contemporary Psychology, St. Paul’s (Rikkyo) University in Japan, where he teaches movement theory and conducts workshops. Through these various projects, he continues to encourage and inspire young dancers, together with his creative work.