 The Poem of A Flower |
This performance, "Poem of A Flower" is certainly my life itself. I choreographed this dance based on my life experience. This is one of my significant performance which I performed in France and gained much respect and recognition to this day. The flower that I express here, is myself, and the poem is my life. I am a divorced mother with three children (two sons and a daughter). I've expressed my feelings of my happy life when I started my marriage, to my "suffering, sorrow, agony, struggle, praying, hope and love" where I had to live separately with my children for two years over the divorce settlement. "Poem of A Flower" expresses the importance of love at all times to overcome any hardship or pain. |
 The Hiroshima Panels Dora Stratou Theater in Athens, Greece  Jean Jean Theater in Tokyo Maruki Museum of Art |
"The Hiroshima Panels", was first introduced to me from the photo journalist, Mr. Atsushi Iijima. It was a horrible Hiroshima atomic bomb sites drawn by Iri and Toshi Maruki. When I actually went to the Maruki Art Gallery in Saitama Prefecture, I was deeply concentrating on how to present this theme into my dance. The theme really matched my concept of dance; which was to show the importance of love and peace. But it was such a deep theme that I've doubted myself whether I was ready to do it or not. On the other hand, I felt I should express into my dance what Iri and Toshi had drawn. Being a dance artist myself, creating these drawings into dance was meaningful for me. My life is to please everyone who sees my dance and to bring back hope and love to them. My mission is to alter these troubled situations with my dance to achieve divine goodness of the world. My dance is basically a life of everyone who sees it. |
 Yabu No Naka (Rashomon) Jean Jean Theater in Tokyo |
The original novel was written by Ryunosuke Akutagawa which was made into a movie by Akira Kurosawa known as "Rashomon". This performance was choreographed into three different characters(the wife,the wife's husband, and Tajomaru). The story begins when a couple was on their trip, the husband dies. Each of the characters insisted that he/she had killed the husband. The husband himself appears as a spirit and delares that he had killed himself. Each individual's testimony contradicts the truth and therefore this title "Yabu No Naka" (Beat about the bush) implies. This performance should apply to many people these days as nobody really knows the truth what's behind them. Whether the dancer is a Japanese or a foreigner, the feelings that is expressed by the individual changes the whole story. When I choreographed the six dancers of the Novosibirsk State Academic Ballet, it was their first experience to dance modern since they were all classical ballet dancers. But they were very pure in their heart and had a desire to make this dance a good one so it was a pleasant experience choreographing them. Elizabeth Roxas who was a former principal dancer of Alvin Ailey Dance Company in New York and many dancers around the world including the Russian dancers whom I choreographed were all fond of my dramatic approach of dance. I hope many of them would pursue this dramatic dance in their performances. |
 Sansho Dayu The International Dance Conference in Athens,Greece |
This is known as the Japanese fable story in Kyoto Tango region, or a novel by
Ougai Mori's "Anju and Zushio's" story. Being attacked by the bandits during a
trip, the sister and the brother were separated from their mother. The bandit's
leader "Sansho Dayu" treated them as slaves and older sister "Anju", killed herself. The original story was the reunion of the mother and the younger brother Zushio after several hardships. On the other hand, Erika performed this as a mother who was lost in grief of separating from her own children, but yet had a strong will to meet them again. |
 Adachigahara/Kurozuka The International Dance Conference in Athens,Greece Atsugi City Cultural Hall |
This is a famous work of Noh and Kabuki. In a Noh performance, the story ends when an ogress vanished after the prayer of the monks. Whatever the dancing theme is, Erika's dance theory which is "the pleasures of life", has an ending with love and hope. At the end, the goddess made the ogress come back to life and the legend itself changes as the, ogress changes into a goddess of childbirth. |
 Variations in a Foreign Land III Memories of the Fire Orpheus Rashomon |
|
||||||||||||
 International Choreographers' Contest of Novosibirsk |
|
||||||||