Mabel Kwan, piano, & Ayako Kato, dance, will be presenting their free improvisation duo for 2 x 4 at Constellation Chicago on April 29, 8:30 pm. Come with your friend, and reserve your ticket HERE! Or get at the DOOR!
Free Admission
Become a “Conscious Observer” for our Quantum Entanglement (QE) through Dance informal showing on Sat, Feb 14, 2 pm @ 1650 W Foster, 2nd floor/Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble space! It’s been so fruitful to learn and discuss about QE and Quantum Physics & Mechanics through our own movements and body-mind awareness!! Please enjoy tea/hot chocolate with cookies during our post-showing dialogue!!
Photo by Marc PoKempner
Come out on Monday, December 22, 8 pm @Constellation! Ayako will be one of the collaborative artists. Tickets available HERE. Also, check out their morning concerts and beyond Here!
Featuring: Joshua Abrams - contrabass; Jason Adasiewicz - vibraphone;
Lisa Alverado - harmonium; Tatsu Aoki - contrabass, shaman;
Jim Baker - piano, electronics; Zahra Baker - vocals; Tuli Bera - dance, movement; Hamid Drake - drums, percussion; Ayako Kato - dance, movement;
Kent Kessler - contrabass; Ben LaMar Gay- trumpet; Shanta Nurullah - sitar;
Mike Reed - drums; Mai Sugimoto - reeds; Ken Vandermark - reeds;
Michael Zerang - drums, percussion; Dave Rempis - reeds
Mabel Kwan, piano kindly invited Ayako as her partner to join PIANIST and A PARTNER PERHAPS EDITION 4 on Sun, November 23 at Elastic Arts curated by Sharon Udoh. The duo will present Bach's Well Tempered Clavier (C & C# major and minor). So exciting to embody Bach with Mabel Kwan!! Other pianists featured for the evening are: Jim Baker, Erez Dessel, and Nolan Chin, partnering with Vincent Davis, Kim Alpert, and Kris Corsano.
Mabel Kwan by Liina Laud
Ayako Kato, Photo by William Frederking Robin Wilson, Photo by Glenn Bering
Prof. Robin Wilson at the University of Michigan, who is a founding member of New York's Urban Bush Women, is generously inviting Ayako to teach, perform, give a career talk at the Dance Department and a lecture on Fūryū and her artistic journey at the Center for Japanese Studies on November 19 & 20. Ayako cannot wait to perform free improvisation together with faculty members and dance students!!
Chicago-based artist Ayako Kato discusses the Japanese traditional philosophy Fūryū, how it has grown to a universal perspective through her creative practice, and why it is valuable for our contemporary life. In this evening talk, Kato will also share how her path to be an artist and embodying Fūryū through dance have been intertwined with establishing her identity and sense of independence as a contemporary female artist of color and human.
930 Greenleaf Ave, Wilmette, IL 60091
Photo by Ray Nakazawa
The AUH duo has been active since 1998 and their music and dance performance is highly acclaimed on New York Times, Luzerner Zeitung, Switzerland, and beyond.
For a solid 1 hour, the duo invite you an ephemeral indivisible world of micro through macro, yin through yang, and any other oppositions you haven’t even given the names yet to coexist.
Since 1998, this duo has been presenting the non-hierarchical relationship of dance and music, and the best manner of coexistence through movement and sound. The piece encourages audience members to be active viewers, inviting them to experience unexpected realms of the complex system enriched with space, silence, and stillness. The physicality of music, the musicality of dance, and the constant merger of the two create the absolute moments which are fundamental and larger than humans can control along with the tangible and intangible, and all in between.
April 1 - 17, 2025
Suzuribako 日本語プロフィール
Sebastian Strinning, saxophone; Frantz Loriot, viola; Ayako Kato, dance
Tue, April 1: Alley Hall in Shimokitazawa, Tokyo, Access, Relating Performance, Guest Artist: Ken’ichi Takeda, taisho koto, Door: 19:00, Open: 19:30 Admission: Advance: 3,000 yen Door: 3,500 yen, Curated by Bigtory Reservation: 03-3419-6261, danceunion1@gmail.com
Wed - Sun, April 2 - 6: Omnicent Ukiha Residency & Creation in Ukiha, Fukuoka
Sat, April 5: Studio 1143 in Ukiha, Fukuoka Access, Relating Performance, Guest Artist: Noritaka Tanaka, drums, Open: 17:00, Start: 17:30, Admission: Advance & Door: 3500 yen, Reservation: info@omnicent.org or info.studio1143@gmail.com, Curated by Omnicent Ukiha (Ryoko Baba & Noritaka Tanaka)
Tue, April 8: hatoba cafe & gallery in Kyoto Access, Free Improvisation Symposium ”Blind men and an elephant,” Perspectives & Practice of Improvisation, Guest Artists/Panelists: Kazue Asano, Shin’ichi Isohata, Shin Sakuma, Masayuki Sumi, Kayu Nakata, Sebastian Strinning, Frantz Loriot, Ayako Kato; Open: 18:00, Start: 18:30, General Admission: Advance: 2500 yen, Door: 3000 yen; Student: Advance: 2000 yen, Door: 2500 yen, Reservation: hatoba cafe Tel: 075-644-9125, hatobacafe@gmail.com, Co-curated by Kazenomai Jyuku, hatoba cafe
Wed, April 9: UrBANGUILD in Kyoto Access, Relating Performance, Guest Artists: Sumi Masayuki, Heidi S. Durning, Shun’ichiro Hisada (Noh kotsuzumi), Open: 19:00, Start: 19:30; Admission: 2,500 yen + 1 drink Reservation
Thur, April 10: 先行一車 Senko Issha, Taipeh Access 21:00 start
Fri, April 11: Outer Pulsation ＠ Gingguan Underpath, Taipeh, 20:00 start
Sat, April 12: 江山藝改所 Jiang Shan, Hsinchu, 19:3- start
Sun, April 13: The Living Room, Hualien, 14:00 start
Tue, April 15: Cochlea Lab @ Absence Place, Tainan, 19:00 open; 19:30 start
Wed, April 16: Halfway Cafe, Taipeh
Tava-kaavi (Sun Mountain in Ute), the view from the ground next to the Heller Center for Arts and Humanities
Tava-kaavi, Sun Mountain in Ute, will be honored by stories, dance, and music with hopes and dreams shared by members of the Native American Students Alliance (NASA) to balance ourselves and perceive a better common future on the land. The Heller Center for Arts and Humanities at the University of Colorado - Colorado Springs selected Ayako as a Spring 2025 Heller Fellowship Award recipient and has been supporting the new creation of storytelling dance ETHOS: Ways of the Wind to be presented as a work in progress.
Mint tea, blue corn cookies, and biscochitos related to Ute culture will be offered in the beginning. You will be invited to outdoors on the hilltop, so please dress accordingly. A reception and dialogue follow.
Storytelling Dance
Pulpit Rock with Wind Harps installed by Philip Blackburn
This project is presented as part of Heller Fellowship Series and Peak FreQuency Festival, and generously supported by Heller Center for Arts and Humanities & the Department of Visual and Performing Arts (VAPA) at the University of Colorado - Colorado Springs
October 4, 2024 - January 5, 2025
“Air is black. It is without colour, without luminosity, and without form. Its blackness is not void, but constitutes pure potential, raw creative energy. Air is free. It circulates everywhere, all at once and always, without conceding to architectural or political borders. We are intimately immersed in black air. We are born into it. We breathe it. We move and act through it, speak from within it. Full of electromagnetic energy, black air animates us, it vibrates and sounds, it carries and transmits.”
— Amelia LiCavoli, curator
Artists: Aldo Tambellini, Otto Piene, Ibrahim R. Ineke, Semiconductor, Ayako Kato, Max Kuiper, Lisa Slodki, Hans de Wit
Choreography & Performance by Ayako Kato
Costume by Yuria Roebke
Ayako Kato will perform three poetic and ephemeral explorations of Black Air, Kuroi Kūki: a seed, based on philosophical preparations and physical on-site research. Within the space of the exhibition, emptiness and form may be perceived as existing simultaneously as illusions, that are breathing, perpetually changing, and transforming. The actions of the human body directly interact with the invisible and unperceivable dance of atoms in unity with the movements of the universe, and transform physiological and psychological perceptions into images. Collaborating with black air, this motion choreography will explore subtle changes and transitions through attention to the channeling of the flow of air, energy, gravity, and form across space and time.
Post-show video and costume installation at Casino Luxembourg
Drawing by Ayako Kato
Photo by William Frederking
Saturday, November 23, Open between 1:30-4:30 pm @ HAIBAYÔ, 1132 W Argyle St., Chicago, IL
Free Admission
Presented by ROMAN SUSAN
Image by Mark Diaz
Join us for a project launch of Umwelt by Mark Alcazar Diaz. Umwelt presents an auditory journey through the alleyways of Chicago's Uptown neighborhood. Delve into an intricate urban ecology of sounds that define these corridors.
Through meticulous field recordings captured with a binaural microphone, Umwelt unveils the nuanced sonic landscapes of each alley, offering a glimpse into the unseen rhythms of daily life. From the rhythmic clatter of ventilation systems echoing against brick walls to the distant hum of traffic permeating the air, each sound serves as a thread weaving together the fabric of this urban environment.
During this launch event, visitors activate the mapped recordings through overlapping sound stations. Kinetic philosopher and dancer Ayako Kato will respond to the chance interactions throughout the afternoon. The launch event takes place HAIBAYÔ at 1132 W Argyle St on Saturday, November 23 from 1:30-4:30 PM – and the field recordings are accessible through the site 24/7.
Visit mark-a-diaz-umwelt.com to experience this work online. The site is intended for desktop or laptop interface. Headsets are recommended. Umwelt is a part of Navigations, a series of artist projects in and about public space.
*****
Mark Alcazar Diaz is an artist, curator, educator, and arts administrator. He works with various media, including video, drawing, and object making to examine migration, memory of place, and natureculture. Related to his interest in exploring the pedagogy of sites and objects, Diaz facilitates workshops for teachers, artists, and non-artists to collaborate and explore the intersection of making and learning.
Ayako Kato is a contemporary choreographer and dancer originally from Yokohama, Japan. Kato's dance seeks the way of being in relation to nature and illuminates the dignity of life in response to contemporary society. Kato has been awarded a United States Artist Fellowship, Sybil Shearer Fellowship at Ragdale, and Illinois Arts Council Artist Fellowship, among others.
HAIBAYÔ is a creative initiative that aims to energize the historic Asia on Argyle corridor through innovative cross-cultural, multi-generational collaborations.
Roman Susan celebrates and shares the work of artists in the Great Lakes region. We create cultural engagements that provide resources and paid opportunities for artists. We are Chicago-based. We are artist-led. We are experimental and learning. More details at romansusan.org.
Tomas Fujiwara and Taylor Ho Bynum
HUNGRY BRAIN, Sat, 11/9, 9 pm
Reserve your seats HERE!
Tomas Fujiwara (drums) and Taylor Ho Bynum (cornet), with second set guests Ayako Kato and Rachel Bernsen(movement) and Jason Roebke (bass)
Over the past thirty years, over twenty-five albums and hundreds of gigs in dozens of different bands, drummer Tomas Fujiwara and cornettist Taylor Ho Bynum have developed one of the deeper levels of creative communication in the contemporary music scene - in groups under Fujiwara's leadership like Triple Double and Shizuko, ensembles led by Bynum including his Sextet, 9-tette, and PlusTet big band, and collective projects like Illegal Crowns (with Mary Halvorson and Benoit Delbecq) and the Thirteenth Assembly (with Halvorson and Jessica Pavone), and the Chicago meets NYC supergroup Living By Lanterns. Throughout this history, they've maintained their duo, which has released four albums: "True Events" (2007), "Stepwise" (2010), "Through Foundation" (2014), and "Notice" (2022).
The first set will be Fujiwara and Bynum's first duo performance in Chicago in a decade. For the second set, they will be joined by dancers Ayako Kato and Rachel Bernsen and bassist Jason Roebke, to improvise in response to materials from Bill Dixon's Index - the first in a series of explorations into this composition with a variety of configurations that Bynum is organizing around Dixon's 2025 centennial.
More Details: Please visit Hungry Brain Website
Rachel Bernsen and Ayako Kato
Ayako Kato and Jason Roebke
Ayako Kato image by William Frederking
Bridge Dance Festival 2024 @ Links Hall, 3111 N Western Ave.
Ticket Links: Friday, November 8, 2025, 7 pm & Saturday, November 9, 2025, 7 pm
Law of attraction?! Ayako and charismatic dancer Ray Nakazawa met right after Ayako graduated from the University of Michigan MFA program and went back to Japan in 1998. Since then, their paths have been crossing on and off. Both as dance artist moms, they meet and share space again after 26 years. Their duo “Persona” will be presented in reflection of synergetic and synchronic force pushing them forward. The duo will collaborate with Selina Trepp who create expansive live animations reflected on a sculptural mirror ball, Videolah.
Ray, formaly based in Paris and Tokyo, currently based in Mie, Japan, will also invite you to a documentary dance, Respawn, that stages her daily life as a single mother raising a son with a serious illness.
Chih-Hsien Lin who is specialized in somatic-based approaches presents her solo as an embodied thinker, a clinical counselor, and an immigrant artist originally from Taiwan.
The Bridge Dance Festival began in 2018 as the culmination of four years of Japanese-focused programming at Links Hall, including the National Performance Network Asian Exchange, Beyond the Box, and Links to Japan.
Curated by Rika Lin/Yoshinojo Fujima
Presented by Asian Improv aRts Midwest & Links Hall
Collaborator Bio for “Persona”
Dancer, director, and producer Ray Nakazawa started ballet and modern dance from an early age. She started presenting her works in her late teens at the Contemporary Dance Association of Japan. She organizes Orbitallink, an improvisational collective with musicians and other genres, and holds 20 raffle ‘improvisational battles’ around the world, including Kyoto, Nagoya, Tokyo, Paris, and Berlin, which is held throughout the year.
In the 2000s, she moved her base to Paris, France, and presented dance works that collaborate with video and technology. After returning to Japan in 2007, she moved to Mie Prefecture due to her child's illness. While conducting dance and yoga classes for people with mental and developmental disabilities, she began to question the imbalance and over-concentration of dance in Tokyo, and began performing dance in the context of social activities, architecture, welfare, and education, mainly in the Mie Prefecture.
Selina Trepp (Swiss/American, b. 1973) is an artist researching economy and improvisation. Finding a balance between the intuitive and conceptual is a goal. “If in doubt be radical” is the best advice she ever got.
She works across media, combining performance, installation, painting, and sculpture to create intricate setups that result in photos, drawings and animations.
In addition to the studio-based work, Selina is active in the music scene. In this context she sings and plays the videolah, her midi controlled video synthesizer combined with her video exploder to create projected animations in real-time as visual music. She performs with a varying cast of collaborators and as one half of Spectralina, her long running audiovisual collaboration with Dan Bitney.
NANCY: I tell you I’ve been honing my foresight over the past few months, ever since my husband’s inauguration, and it’s getting stronger every day.
—Timothy David Rey, from ZIP!
Come to Zip! presented by Poetry Foundation. This timely play will share space you need to be that election week. Ayako choreographed two dance scenes performed by Wannapa Pimtong Eubanks & Anniela Hubidoro for this staged reading.
Secure your free admission spot at Eventbrite for Thursday, November 7, 6-7:30 pm; Talk Back: 7:30-8 pm
Written by Chicago poet Timothy David Rey, Zip! is a prophetic and ghostly timewarped drama about Nancy Reagan’s fervor for astrology, interlaced with a Black gay love story, set on the eve of the AIDS epidemic and the Reagan assassination attempt. The play runs approximately 90 minutes with no intermission.
Zip! is a 2023 semi-finalist for the Eugene O’Neill National Playwrights Conference. Further development occurred during the author’s time as a 2022 fellow in the playwriting cohort of the Lambda Literary Writers Retreat for Emerging LGBTQ+ Writers-Faculty Advisor, Jewelle Gomez. Zip! was given its second table-read as part of the 2021 End Of Play Program (hosted by the Dramatist Guild of America/ The 24 Hour Plays NYC).
Some of Rey’s other plays include White/House (Finalist, eta New Play Initiative, 2020), Gloria, The (Almost) Last Picture Show, and The Monologue Play: An Ongoing Work Exploring Race, Sex, Identity...And The American Myth (‘22,‘23 Changing Worlds/ Arts Work Fund Award Recipient).
Director: Roger Ellis
Cast: David Goodloe, Caren Skibell, Stephen Glaspie, Wannapa Pimtong Eubanks, Anniela Hubidoro, Donovan Session, and Saleem Hue Penny.
Production Team: Opening Graphic-Rob Riutta/ Ross Parsons, Choreography-Ayako Kato, Props-Julie Williams, Sound-Ayme Frye.
Image by Chad M Clark
One day, Chad reached Ayako, and here we are! Come to let your mind play, float …, and land in space with us!!
Performance by: Ayako Kato, dance + Chad M Clark, guitar; Carol Genetti, voice + Janna Lee, voice; Amanda Maraist, dance and Michael Macdonald, electronics
“The Oka Homma Singers’ soul-thumping drums and ringing voices resound in the distance along the Lakefront Trail. They (dancers) caress the breeze … Ayako Kato … pauses to hang from one branch, arm hooked delicately and body unfolding toward the sky. The crowd is hushed.”
— “Environmental awakening: ETHOS IV connects community to the Earth“ Review by Megan Kudla, See Chicago Dance, 24 April, 2024
Photos by Julie Lucas, Jamila Kinney & Deanna Mierra (Agora Sculpture Site)
ETHOS IV: Degrowth/Cycle/Rebirth is an indoor and outdoor participatory promenade performance that acknowledges nature and the land. It intends to amplify the invisible to improve our ethos and carry it forward for the future.
ETHOS inquires how to improve the ethical characters of contemporary beings along with historical, cultural, and environmental awareness from the fūryū (wind-flowing) perspective. Ayako, a kinetic philosopher and poet, will be deepening an aesthetic and physical practice for human dignity and beauty to evolve, following the ETHOS mantra of 8As: Awareness, Acknowledgement, Affirmation, Allowance, Action, Acceptance, Affinity, and Appreciation in harmony with the cycle of nature.
Bridging Reality & Dreams
Outdoor & Indoor Performance at the Lakefront & Agora Sculpture Area, and
the Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago
The theater part will start at 7:30 pm/2:30 pm. (End time: 8:30 pm/3:30 pm)
1306 S Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL 60605
Direction to the Dance Center
To experience ETHOS IV fully, joining the outdoor portion is highly recommended. Yet, please feel free to join from the indoor portion at your convenience by checking TIMELINE above! End time of the show is 8:30 pm on Friday and 3:30 pm on Saturday.
Experience both festival weekends and See ALL of the works by J’Sun Howard,
Erin Kilmurray & Kara Brody, and SJ Swilley!!
For more information about ETHOS Project, please visit HERE
ETHOS IV: Degrowth/Cycle/Rebirth explores decomposing human-centered capitalistic ways of being and practicing symbiotic nature-centered ways of being as stewards of the land.
ETHOS inquires how to improve the ethical characters of contemporary beings along with historical, cultural, and environmental awareness from the fūryū (wind-flowing) perspective. Ayako, a kinetic philosopher and poet, will be deepening an aesthetic and physical practice for human dignity and beauty to evolve, following the ETHOS mantra of 8As: Awareness, Acknowledgement, Affirmation, Allowance, Action, Acceptance, Affinity, and Appreciation in harmony with the cycle of nature.
Ayako collaborates with biologist and storyteller Billie Warren, a member of the Pokagon Band of Bodewadomi (Potawatomi); Oka Homma Singers; media artist/writer/performer Andy Slater; dance artists Asimina Chremos, Rosely Conz, and Carl Gruby.
*In case of increment weather, all the performance contents will happen indoor at the Dance Center. In case of light April shower, we will still perform outdoor. Notification will be sent for those who registered via Eventbrite.com.
PLEASE GATHER at the lobby 30 minutes before the Lakefront performance or directly at the Lakefront near Chicago Hot Dog stand at the Museum Campus). We will head to the Lakefront for a drumming and singing performance by the Oka Homma Singers and a Water and Soil Ceremony presented by Billie Warren, a biologist and member of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi. Afterwards, we will visit the Agora sculpture area and return to the Dance Center to experience Round Dance. Then, you will watch indoor portion of ETHOS IV at the theater!
ACCESSIBILITY: ETHOS IV with the Dance Center includes open captions and ASL. Audio Description is offered for Blind and low vision audience members, who will be offered a headset upon arrival. The path to the Lakefront and the Dance Center building are wheelchair accessible. Wayfinding assistance will be offered to Blind and low vision audience members as we navigate to and from the lakefront. Please call 312-369-8330 or email columbiatickets@colum.edu for any questions for accessibility needs. Thank you.
ETHOS IV: Degrowth/Cycle/Rebirth Creators
Oka Homma Singers: Niyol Spencer (Head Man), Mississippi Chata/Diné; Dave Spencer (Drum Keeper), Mississippi Chata/Diné; Paul Molina, Kickapoo/Mexican; Jordan Gurneau, Ojibwe; Jasmine Gurneau, Oneida/Menominee; Holly Spencer
Water & Soil Ceremony by Billie Warren, Pokagon Band of Bodewadomi (Potawatomi)
Movement & Content Development Collaboration by Andy Slater, Asimina Chremos, Rosely Conz, Carl Gruby, and Ayako Kato
Sound Design by Andy Slater
Film “no fish no mountain” (2014) by Ralph Kuehne
Piano (recorded improvised music) by Ayako Kato
Lighting Design by Giau Truong
Costume by Amanda Franck and Ayako Kato
Access Dramaturg/Consultant by Maggie Bridger
Technical Management by Kevin Rechner
Stage Management by Siobhan FitzGelard
ETHOS Concept Consulting by Katsushi Hikasa
ETHOS Map Illustration by Kat Montgomery
Conceived & Dramatized by Ayako Kato
Choreography by Ayako Kato in collaboration with cast members & Agora section developed from the solo choreography by Angela Gronroos under the theme of Degrowth
Set & Prop Design by Ayako Kato
Scenic Video by Ayako Kato
ETHOS IV will be featured as part of CHICAGO ARTIST SPOTLIGHT FESTIVAL (April, 2024) which dives into the vibrancy of Chicago’s dance community with award-winning artists: dancemaker and poet J’Sun Howard, kinetic philosopher Ayako Kato, pop-fringe creator Erin Kilmurray, and artist/activist SJ Swilley. The Festival activates the entire Dance Center building and Grant Park.
Reserve your tickets at Eventbrite: Friday, April 19, 6 pm (gathering time at the lobby: 5:30 pm) & Saturday, April 20, 1 pm (gathering time at the lobby: 12:30 pm)
Photo: Ayako Kato & Carl Gruby by William Frederking; Billie Warren, Courtesy of Artist; Oka Homma Singers by Seeger Grey; Andy Slater by Tressa Slater; Asimina Chremos by XFestMA; Rosely Contz by Patrizia Herminjard
ETHOS IV: Degrowth/Cycle/Rebirth is generously supported by the Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago’s Chicago Artist Spotlight Festival, A. Montgomery Ward Foundation, Chicago Moving Company, Chicago Park District’s Night Out In The Parks, City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events (DCASE), High Concept Labs, Morrison-Shearer Foundation, 2023 National Dance Project (NDP) Grant Finalist Award made possible by the New England Foundation for the Arts with funding from the Doris Duke Foundation and the Mellon Foundation, and Ragdale Foundation.
The Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago’s Chicago Artist Spotlight Festival are generously supported by the, Alphawood Foundation, Chicago Dancemakers Forum, City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events (DCASE), Illinois Arts Council, and Richard H. Driehaus Foundation.
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Conceived by Yiheng Yvonne Wu and co-devised by all three performers, Breath/Carries/Ritual is a transdisciplinary exploration of “things we carry.” Grounded in the body and the breathing cycles of the performers, movement and sound become one another. Stories emerge of burdens, sundries, and things that push us forth.
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For Three Sleepless Nights is a trio by pianist Mabel Kwan, double bassist Jason Roebke, and dancer Ayako Kato. Their craft to pursue tranquility with the play of kinetic and sonic space, silence, and stillness generates a void for the flow of wind, gravity, and grace to come in.
Sponsors
University of Colorado Colorado Springs, Visual and Performing Arts Department
University of Colorado President’s Fund for the Humanities
Yiheng Yvonne Wu is a composer and interdisciplinary artist whose work ranges from conventionally
notated pieces to staged experimental works. Interdisciplinary projects have incorporated ASL, poetry,
dance, and installation. Wu has received commissions from the La Jolla Symphony, Arraymusic,
Michael Mizrahi, Figmentum, and the Bardin-Niskala Duo, among others. Her music has been
performed by the MIVOS string quartet, a.pe.ri.od.ic, Bent Frequency, and Ensemble SurPlus and
featured in the WasteLAnd concert series, the University of Tennessee Contemporary Music Festival,
New Music on the Bayou, SoundSCAPE, and Aspen Music Festival. Collaborators have included
Jennifer Torrence, Ayako Kato, Bonnie Whiting, Jessica Aszodi, Rachel Beetz, Dustin Donahue, and
Todd Moellenberg. She was awarded the 2018 Judith Lang Zaimont Prize by the IAWM and the 5th
Mivos/Kanter String Quartet Composition Prize. She is Assistant Professor of Music at the University
of Colorado Colorado Springs. yvonnewu.com
Jennifer Torrence is a percussionist, performer, and artistic researcher based in Oslo, Norway.
Originally from the United States, she has performed and taught in a variety of contexts across the
entire globe. Much of her work is built upon deep collaborative processes with composers and artists
from various experimental practices. In addition to solo and collaborative projects she is a member of
the Norwegian ensemble, Pinquins. Her artistic research has been supported by the Norwegian
Academy of Music (NMH) and the Stockholm University of the Arts. She holds a PhD in Artistic
Research from NMH and the Norwegian Artistic Research Programme. Jennifer is Associate Professor
II of percussion at the Norwegian Academy of Music. For more information
Pianist Mabel Kwan is fascinated by sounds, contradictions, and our perception of what is familiar or
strange. She is a founding member of Ensemble Dal Niente, Restroy, Mega Laverne and Shirley, Fifth
Season, and Honestly Same. A native of Austin, Texas, her interest in art and music began at an early
age when she started accompanying her father on lieder, arias, and Chinese folk songs. Mabel is
a 2017 3Arts Awardee, 2018 High Concept Labs Artist, and 2020 City of Chicago Esteemed Artist.
The diversity of Jason Roebke’s musical associations make him one of the most sought after
bassists, composers, and educators in Chicago and beyond. He composes music that is extreme in
its pairing of silence and explosive gestures. His music is rooted in jazz and takes inspiration from
experimental music, noise, and improvisation. Solo performance and a duo with dancer Ayako Kato
are also at the forefront of his creative activities. As a double bassist, his playing is intensely physical,
audacious, and sparse. The Chicago Reader described his work as “a carefully orchestrated rummage
through a hardware store.” Roebke studied privately with saxophonist and composer Roscoe Mitchell
as well as legendary double bass pedagogue Stuart Sankey. In 2009, he was awarded the Fellowship
in Music Composition from the Illinois Arts Council. Roebke tours widely in the US and Europe.
Please visit Ayako’s profile HERE
October 19 - November 2
12 Locations in
Sapporo, Furubira, Morioka, Ogose, Takasaki, Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe, Fukuoka
Frantz Loriot by Philippe Pierre; Ayako Kato by Ralph Kühne, Sebastian Strinning by Dragan Tasic
Suzuribako is a multicultural, interdisciplinary improvisation trio featuring Sebastian Strinning, Frantz Loriot and Ayako Kato. Named after a Japanese calligraphy box, this trio creates its own ink from ancient stones, draws fine lines in wide landscapes and jumps into the mysticism of the universe.
◆ Thur, 10/19: Coo, Sapporo, Hokkaido w/ Yuta Yokoyama, trampet map Door: 7 pm, Start: 7:30 pm, Advance Ticket: 3,000 yen, Door: 3,500 yen (both + 1 drink 600 yen)
◆ Friday, 10/20: Gano Temple, Furubira, Hokkaido map Door: 6 pm, Start: 7 pm, 2,500 yen
◆ Saturday, 10/21: Cafe Bar West38/Toshiko Akiyoshi Jazz Museum (ｍap), Morioka, Iwate, with Ken Sakagami, dance & Ryohei Kanazawa, percussion Start: 7 pm, 3,000 yen Flyer
Ken Sakagami, dance, in Morioka & Shibuya
Photo by Masahiro Takahashi
◆ Sunday, 10/22: Yamaneko-ken (map), Ogose, Saitama, with Naoto Yamagishi, percussion. Start: 6pm, Advance Ticket: 3,000 yen + 1 order, Door: 3,500 yen + 1 order. Reservation: info@naotoyamagishi.com Flyer
Naoto Yamagishi, percussion, in Ogose, Shibuya, and Sengawa
Photo by Yoshiyuki Oki
◆ Monday, 10/23: Palais de Paris (map), Takasaki, Gunma, Door: 7 pm, Start: 7:30 pm, Tipping System Flyer
◆ Tuesday, 10/24: Koendori Classics (map), Shibuya, Tokyo, with Michiyo Yagi, koto and Naoto Yamagishi, percussion, and Ken Sakagami, dance. Door: 7 pm, Start: 7:30 pm, 3,500 yen Reservation (Scroll down toward the bottom)
Michiyo Yagi, koto, in Shibuya
Photo by B.B. Balboa
◆ Wednesday, 10/25: Karada Junction Workshop@ Annex Sengawa Factory (map) with Naoto Yamagishi Instructor: Suzuribako & Naoto Yamagishi, percussion. 1st session: 3-5 pm & 2nd session: 7-9 pm (Contents will be the same). Tuition: 3,500 yen Workshop Reservation, Inquiry (scroll to the bottom) Flyer
◆ Thursday, 10/26: Karada Junction Performance@ Annex Sengawa Factory (map) with Naoto Yamagishi. Door: 7 pm, Start: 7:30 pm, 3,500 yen Live Reservation, Inquiry (scroll to the bottom) Flyer
◆ Friday, 10/27: Permian (map), Gotanda, Tokyo, with duo Yasumune Morishige, cello/Akaihirume, voice 1,000 - 3,000 yen (Sliding Scale)
◆ Saturday, 10/28: MIIT, Osaka map Door 5:30 pm, Start: 6 pm 1,000 yen
◆ Sunday, 10/29: Studio T-Bone (map), Osaka, with Ezaki Masafumi, Nakada Kayu, Arimoto Rabitto and Shinichi Isohata & Shin Sakuma Door: 4 pm, Start: 5 pm, 2,000 yen + 1 order
◆ Tuesday, 10/31: UrBANGUILD (map), Kyoto with Dancers: Eiichi Maeda, Kenta Kuroda, Manaki Uno、Niina Namie. Door: 7 pm, Start: 7:30 pm, Adv.: 2,200 yen + 1 drink, Door: 2,500 yen + 1 drink, Dancer: 1,600 yen + 1 drink
◆ Wednesday, 11/1: Yanoke・Kura Gallery (map), Ukiha, Fukuoka with Noritaka Tanaka, percussion. Door: 7 pm, Start: 7:30 pm, 3,500 yen Reservation, Flyer
◆ Thursday, 11/2: Guggenheim House (map), Kobe. Door: 7 pm, Start: 7:30 pm, Adv.: 3,000 yen, Door: 3,500 yen. Reservation: guggenheim2007@gmail.com *Please write your name, the date, and how many tickets you need/ *Our response will mean the completion of your reservation/ *We are off on Tue & Wed, so please wait our response until Thursday.
Ayako Kato: Photo by William Frederking
Swiss artist Sabina Oehninger creates these colorful gentle touch towel tapestry pieces which allows you to feel, “It’s okay.” Jason Roebke, double bass, and Ayako Kato, dance, are honored to be invited to perform with these pieces as part of Sabina’s exhibition, Soft Skills, at Comfort Station on Sun, July 9 from 4 pm (Rain date: Saturday, July 15 @ 4 pm). Free Admission.
Photo by Ayako Kato
Dance/Movement Workshop with Ayako Kato
INFORMAL SHOWING! + Dialogue
Sat, May 27, 2 pm, Free Admission
Hamlin Park Fieldhouse Theater Studio, 3035 N Hoyne, 2nd floor. + also on Zoom, please RSVP furyuayajp (at) gmail.com to receive a link.
Art of Being: Freestyle Inside Out participants: Russell Norris, Mary Willmeng, Emily Becket, Anne Shook and more would like to invite you to the end-of-session showing!! We have been discussing the issues/darkness that we are carrying as contemporary individuals,ethical individualism,how to embody the intangible, and beyond while we are constantly seeking out grounding and flying.
ENSO Image by Hunter Lewis
3429 W Diversey Ave. #208, Chicago, IL 60647 map
Enso, the circular Zen image that begins and ends at the same time and place.
An installation and performance piece featuring traditional Japanese arts of chado (tea ceremony), kado (ikebana) and origami fused with contemporary music, video, and dance. Two consecutive nights of exhibition and performance embody creation and birth, and destruction and death.
Ikebana by Charles Harris, Senior Professor of Ikenobo School of Floral Art
Video installation by Hunter Lewis
Origami by Ty Yamamoto
Dance performance by Ayako Kato
CLEAT sound installation and performance by Billie Howard
Costumes by Anna Gaukel
Supported by Japanese Culture Center and Elastic Arts
$15 per evening, $25 for both evenings Click Here for Reservation
Ikebana by Charles Harris
Photo by William Frederking
Thanks to Caroline Davis (saxophone, NYC), 4 Female Quartet of Music & Dance gathered by Tomeka Reid in Moers, Germany, in Oct 2022 along with attuned skillful improviser Rachel Bernsen (dance, VT) is freshly back to celebrate an artful happy new year 2023!! Join us with drinks!
Photo: Thomas White
Reaching nearly 25 years in collaboration, Art Union Humanscape (AUH) Duo, Ayako Kato, dance & Jason Roebke, double bass, creates a sonic and kinetic landscape meditatively superimposed with silence and stillness.
Photo by Ben Billignton
3KlangTage: Patterns of Light, Theater Burgbachkeller in Zug, Switzerland
October 28-30, 2022: A 3-day innovative contemporary and experimental music festival curated by Hildegard Kleeb and Roland Dahinden in Zug, Switzerland.
October 29, 8:00 pm: Collaboration with Hildegard Kleeb, CH, Piano / Marie-Cécile Reber, CH, Electronics
October 30, 5:00 pm: Collaboration with Radim Hanousek, CZE, Saxophon / Roland Dahinden, CH, Posaune / Ayako Kato, dance
October 20th, 7:30 pm: Antwerp, Belgium at DE STUDIO as part of Sound in Motion VISITATION II - 2022
October 22nd, 8:00 pm: Moers, Germany at Schlosstheater Studio, as part of Tomeka Reid’s IMPROVISOR IN RESIDENCE, Free Admission
October 23rd: Wuppertal, Germany
October 24th: Duisburg, Germany
Photo by Ricardo Adame
— “Through Dance, For Dance, We Dance: Offering and Receiving: A Reflection About ETHOS III, A Performance at Palmisano Park” Review by Maya Odim (Elevate 2022 Festival Writer), Chicago Dancemakers Forum Blog, 28 December, 2022
Watch EHTOS III: LUCA/Res Communis 5 minute excerpts
Watch Full Length “ETHOS III: LUCA/Res Communis”
Read more about ETHOS Project
11 am - 1:30 pm & 3 pm - 5:30 pm @ Palmisano Park
2850 S Halsted, Chicago (CTA: Orange Line, Halsted Sta.; Halsted #8 Bus to 27th St. or 29th St.)
Dance Installation & Performance Running Time: 150 minutes
Reservations encouraged (yet, not crucial) and open around mid-September with information on accessibility at chicagodancemakers.org
Presented by Elevate Chicago Dance Festival in partnership with the Chicago Park District; Produced by High Concept Labs in Joint Residency with the Monira Foundation at Mana Contemporary
LUCA/Res Communis: ETHOS Episode III at Palmisano Park is part of the ETHOS project by Ayako, that sets art practice in natural environments. Episode III draws on the land’s history as the quarry that built modern Chicago, acknowledges the past, present, and future Indigenous people living among us, and is created in collaboration. It is organized as timed dances, land and water acknowledgements, and a culminating circle. Visitors choose to be guided by docents, or roam on their own.
Titled after the “Last Universal Common Ancestor”, and the common elements necessary for human life on Earth (air, water, soil), it follows To the Shore: ETHOS Episode I (2019), which used the setting of the beachfront and Colvin House at North Sheridan Road, and Inception: ETHOS Episode II (2021), set on the beach and prairieland behind the South Shore Cultural Center.
ETHOS Guidance Performers: Susana Ollin Kuikatl Tekpatzia Bañuelos (Aztec Nahua, vocal-music artist and storyteller, Aztec Dance Chicago), Joseph Lefthand (of Cheyenne-Arapaho, Taos, Zuni descent, performer), Danielle Gallet (water storyteller), Ambrosio Martinez (music, Aztec Dance Chicago).
ETHOS Team LUCA Dancers: Tuli Bera and Darling Squire (Team LUCA Co-Leaders), and Sophie Allen, Silvita Diaz Brown, Angela Gronroos, Carla Gruby, Lydia Jekot.
Costume by: Darling Squire
Directed and choreographed by: Ayako Kato.
LUCA/Res Communis: ETHOS Episode III is generously supported by High Concept Labs, the Chicago Park District, the Reva & David Logan Foundation, 3Arts, Artist Communities Alliance, Montalvo Arts Center, the Chicago Moving Company, the Chicago Art Department, and an Individual Artists Program Grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events.
Frantz Loriot by Philippe Pierre; Ayako Kato by Ralph Kühne, Sebastian Strinning by Dragan Tasic
Suzuribako is a multicultural, interdisciplinary improvisation trio featuring Sebastian Strinning, Frantz Loriot and Ayako Kato. Named after a Japanese calligraphy box, this trio creates its own ink from ancient stones, draws fine lines in wide landscapes and jumps into the mysticism of the universe.
The trio will go on their Euro tour in September.
September 4th: Subsol, Düsseldorf, Germany
September 6th: Joined by Tomeka Reid, cello at Grafschafter Museum im Moerser Schloss, Moers, Germany
Tomeka Reid
September 7th: Gemeinde, Köln, Germany
September 8th: Joined by Angela Stöcklin, Diego Kohn, Beat Unternährer at Mullbau, Luzern, Switzerland
Beat Unternährer, Angela Stöcklin, Diego Kohn: Photo on the left by Christian Glaus
Susana Ollin Kuikatl Tekpatzin Bañuelos
2233 S. Throop, 4th floor (MANA CONTEMPORARY)
ADMISSION FREE
ETHOS performers and Ayako are excited to invite you to a sneak peek of LUCA/Res Communis: ETHOS Episode III on Friday, June 10, 2022 at High Concept Labs (HCL) from 7 pm. Supported by HCL, ETHOS III is taking off to provoke and practice new contemporary nature-centric ETHOS. This aesthetic and physical inquiry seeks out a new community building on the common ground, even further tracing back to LUCA, the Last Universal Common Ancestor of all living things.
ETHOS Team LUCA (Left to Right): Sophie Allen, Angela Gronroos, Lydia Jekot, Ayako Kato, Silvita Diaz Brown, Darling Squire, Tuli Bera, and Carla Gruby
Acknowledging humans as a part of transformative and cyclical nature and the nature itself, ETHOS Episode III is reflecting on intersections of humanity through its past, present and future. Res Communis or Commons, the natural elements which are considered as necessary resources for all humankind to live such as air, water, and soil on the earth as habitat, are acknowledged through the ceremonial movement work along with Native American, Aztec traditions and contemporary water conservation/restoration approaches.
Joseph Lefthand
Prior to the presentation at Palmisano Park in October, please join us to witness the ETHOS creative process and dialogue on how humans as urban residents can keep practicing to drop invisible walls beyond differences and work together.
ETHOS Dancers: Tuli Bera, Darling Squire, Sophie Allen, Silvita Diaz Brown, Angela Gronroos, Carla Gruby, Lydia Jekot
Danielle Gallet
ETHOS Guidance Performers:
Joseph Lefthand, Movement Land Acknowledgement
Susana Ollin Kuikatl Tekpatzin Bañuelos, Aztec Dance, Music, & Singing
Danielle Gallet, Water Acknowledgement
ETHOS Musician
Susana Ollin Kuikatl Tekpatzin Bañuelos, Aztec Music
Ambrosio Martinez, Aztec Music
Darling Squire & Tuli Bera in “Inception: ETHOS Episode II”
Ayako is looking for dance artists who are ready to deep dive together into artistic endeavor and journey for an upcoming year and beyond, developing the ETHOS project and related presentation possibilities.
Experience the windflow movement approach of Ayako through this free workshop and see if you are interested in being a part of ETHOS Final Episode cast member training program Spring 2022.
Please visit the Google Form HERE for more details and submit the form by Sunday, March 6, 5 pm CST.
Free Workshop (Audition) Dates/Times (you can pick later in the form) are:
Wednesday, March 16, 2022, 11 - 1 pm @ Hamlin Park Fieldhouse Theater, 3035 N Hoyne Ave. 2nd fl. Chicago, IL
Thursday, March 17, 2022, 12 - 2 pm @ High Concept Labs, 2233 S Throop St. 4th fl. Chicago, IL
Saturday, March 19, 2022, 9:45 - 11:45 am @ Hamlin Park Fieldhouse Theater, 3035 N Hoyne Ave. 2nd fl. Chicago, IL
Expected start week of the training program (once a week): around Monday, April 4. Upon completion of the training and showing in June, trainees will receive a stipend.
Laurie MacFarlane and Ruben T. Ornelas curate and present 17 live dance works and dance for camera works in person at MuCCC (Multi-use Community Cultural Center) in Rochester, NY from December 15 through 18. The intimate and tender dance community demonstrates magical experimental spirits and strength through their commitment and passion for dance. Ayako Kato and Jason Roebke are honored to be brought back by popular demand to present their duet “Eclipse” filmed last year. Ayako is also glad to present her award-winning dance for camera work “Just being” (See Chicago Dance Best of Dance 2020).
Please visit more details on Facebook. Tickets are available HERE.
Stop by “The Buddy Store” at the Chicago Cultural Center to experience the Red Rover project curated by poet Jennifer Karmin. From Nov 30 - Dec 5, poets and artists perform in the tiny box space for 30 minutes to 1 hour. This is a pandemic project for tiny audiences with safety concerns in mind. Please visit for more details on Facebook or Instagram. Ayako will be presenting pieces titled “Listening”.
