Friday February 13 | 7:30 PM | Spurrier Dance Theater 

Combining movement, video projection, and storytelling, interdisciplinary performance artist Eiko Otake will talk about her two most ambitious collaboration projects A Body in Fukushima and What Is War. She will also perform some sections from both live. 

Photographer and historian William Johnston recorded Eiko performing alone in the irradiated landscape of post-nuclear disaster Fukushima from 2014-2019. Out of tens of thousands photographs, Eiko created a film, a book, exhibitions, and a performance, all collectively titled A Body in Fukushima. 

Collaboratively conceived, choreographed, and performed by Eiko and Chinese choreographer Wen Hui, What Is War is another full evening-length work that premiered at the Walker Art Center in 2025. In this presentation, Eiko will perform her solo section sharing the stories of her family and her close friend during World War ll. 

In both, she presents her body as a conduit to a distant time, place, and voices. Moving her body and video projections, Eiko will challenge the viewers' sense of distance. 

Her presentation will be followed by Q and A. 

Tickets

• General Admission $12.51 
• Free for UR Students with ID at the door

Eiko will also lead a two-hour workshop entitled Delicious Movement on Saturday Feb 14 beginning at 9:30 AM in Spurrier hall. Email tbasskru@UR.rochester.edu to register. 

Made possible with the generous support of: The Schwartz Performing Arts Fund of the Institute for the Performing Arts, the University Committee for Interdisciplinary Studies, the Central New York Humanities Corridor, the Humanities Project, Film and Media Studies, the Graduate Program in Visual and Cultural Studies, and the Department of Modern Languages and Culture.