Artistic Director

Born in Tokyo, Sachiyo Ito is a performer, choreographer, and educator. She has brought together East and West through her delicate and powerful performances of classical, traditional, and contemporary Japanese dance for the last 50 years. Her passion from an early age to introduce the arts and culture of Japan to the West, specifically Japanese dance, led her to the United States and to the 1972 American Dance Festival, where she made her USA debut. Her introduction there to contemporary and various dance forms of the world inspired her to pursue an M.A. and Ph.D. in Dance at NYU.

While her performance career was based in NYC, she soon performed throughout America, sponsored by Japan Society and Asia Society, and then over her career, throughout Europe and South America. In 1981 she founded Sachiyo Ito and Company (NPO), to establish a school of Japanese dance, provide community service in NY City, choreograph Japanese classical dance for her company ensemble, and create contemporary works for dance and theater based on traditional Japanese aesthetics. In 2008, she received the Japanese Foreign Minister’s Award in recognition of her work to bridge peoples of the USA and Japan, and in 2011, she received a Proclamation from NYC Mayor Bloomberg on the 30 th anniversary of her Company and for her years of community services to NY City.

Sachiyo Ito also has taught and performed for educational programs sponsored by Japan Foundation, Japan Society, Asia Society, New York Foundation for the Arts, National Endowment for the Arts, Council on the Arts in the states of Alaska, North Carolina, South Carolina, and New York, and Lincoln Center for the Arts in Education.

She has contributed articles to the International Encyclopedia of Dance, published by Oxford University Press, and other articles in various publications in Japan and USA.

Extensive performance credits include American Dance Festival, Alice Tully Hall, Performing Arts Library at Lincoln Center, Japan Society, Asia Society, New York City Center, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Kennedy Center for Performing Arts, National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington DC, a South American tour sponsored by the Japan Foundation, the Bonn International Dance Workshop, Congreso Mundial in Spain/UNESCO, the Dublin Theatre Festival, numerous appearances on television including NYC Channels 1, 4, 11, 13, and at universities throughout the United States.

Her choreographic credits for theater productions include Yeats’ trio, Three Irish Noh Plays in Ireland, and NY, And the Soul Shall Dance, Monkey Music at La Mama Theatre, and Off-Broadway productions of Shogun Macbeth, and Dojoji: The Man Inside the Bell; and Kabuki consultant for the Off-Broadway revival of Stephen Sondheim’s Pacific Overtures.

伊藤さちよ　(藤間さちよ)  東京出身

サチヨイトーアンドカンパニー(伊藤さちよ舞踊団)主宰者

文学博士（ニューヨーク大学教育学部）

２００８年に約４０年の日米文化交流貢献を称えられ外務大臣賞を受賞、２０１１年にはカンパニーの30年の市への貢献を認められニューヨーク市長宣告賞受賞

１９７２年にアメリカンダンスフェスティバルにてアメリカデビュー以来アメリカ合衆国、カナダ、ヨーロッパ、南米、各地にて舞踊公演。

 長年ニューヨーク大学で 非常勤教授を務め、ジュリアードスクールなど各地の大学で教授。

ニューヨークではラママ・シアター、リンカーンセンター、オフ・ブロードウェイショーなどに出演、振付。一方で、ジャパンソサエティやアジアソサエティなどの文化機関で公演、ワークショップ。

日本舞踊の他に沖縄舞踊、地唄舞を学び、独自のスタイル、新しい日本舞踊の境地を開き、現在では、古典発表と共に創作活動を行っている。

サチヨイトーアンドカンパニーは日米の文化交流を目指す１９８１年創立の非営利法人団体。日本芸術紹介を意図とした公演とフォーラムの「さろんシリーズ」は22年継続、第66回を数える。ワシントン　ケネディセンター公演　アメリカ各地公演、ワシントンD.C.　桜祭りを初め、NY市恒例ブルックリン植物園桜祭りでの定期公演のほか、学校や美術館などの公共施設における公演、慈善公演としてはＮＹ市の子供達の為のワークショップや養護施設訪問等を行なっている。

CURRICULUM VITAE

SACHIYO ITO, PH.D.

212-627-0265

Dance Training and education

  • 1955-1965  Dance training with Hanayagi School of Japanese Classical Dance, Tokyo (1956 stage debut)

  • 1966          Dance training with Hanayagi School of Japanese Classical Dance, Tokyo 

  • 1968-1970  Ichikawa Joyu-za, Japan All Female Kabuki Company

  • 1972          B.A. English and American Literature, Aoyama Gakuin University, Tokyo

  • 1974          M.A. in Dance, School of Education, New York University  

  • 1987          Ph.D. in Arts and Humanities, School of Education, New York University

Teaching

  • 1970-72     USA Camp Zama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan; Tokyo American Cub, Tokyo  

  • 1975-88     Adjunct Faculty, School of Education, New York University

  • 1984         Adjunct Faculty, The Juilliard School, Dance Department 

  • 1988-95     Academic Advisor, Gallatin Division, New York University

  • 1990-97     Adjunct Faculty, Cape Cod Community College, MA

  • 2009         Adjunct Faculty, Stephens College, MO

 

SACHIYO ITO AND COMPANY ESTABLISHED IN 1981

1981- Artistic Director, Sachiyo Ito and Company, 501(c)(3)

Choreography/Performance/workshop/Demonstration

1970s      American Dance Festival, New London, CT (1972); Ethnic Dance Festival Barnstable, MA (1974); Walter Bruno Auditorium, Performing Arts Library at Lincoln Center, NY (1975); Japan House, New York, NY (1975); University of Hawaii at Manoa (1978); Newark Museum, NJ (1978); Philadelphia Museum of Art Isamu Noguchi Retrospective (1979); Dublin Theatre Festival (performance and coaching (1979); Arts Councils of Staten Island, Virgin Islands (various); Japan Society Education Department (various); University of Pennsylvania, Stroudsburg PA (1979)

1980s      Walter Bruno Auditorium, Performing Arts Library at Lincoln Center, NY (1979); Yale University (1980); American Museum of Natural History (1981); The Theater of the Open Eye (1981); Boston Museum of Fine Arts (1981);  Jackson Art Museum, FL (1981); Smithsonian Institution, Washington  DC (1981); Theater of the Riverside Church (1982, 1984);  Bonn International Dance Workshop, Germany 1983); Alaska and Main statewide tour with All Nations Dance Company (1984); The Grand Opera House, Macon, GA (1984); Shoenburg Auditorium, Missouri, Botanical Garden, St. Louis (1984); NYU Dept. of Dance & dance education (1984); Pace University (1985); Mid-Western Tour (College of Great Falls, Carroll College, Helena, Rocky Mountain College, Billings, MT) (1985); The Pan Asian Repertory Theater, Playhouse 46 (1985); Morikami Museum, Delrey Beach, FL (1987); Oberlin College and Cleveland Museum, OH (1988); The Cleveland Museum of Art Gartner Auditorium (1988); North Carolina Museum of Art (1988); Japan Society (1988); Japan House (1988); The Open Space Theatre, 64 Wooster Street (1988); Duke University Museum of Art (1989); Hope College, DeWitt Theatre (1989);  Japan Society Education Department (various)

1990s      Alaska Pacific University (1990); Alden Theatre (1990); The Consulate General of Japan, Toronto, Canada (1991); Walter Bruno Auditorium, Performing Arts Library at Lincoln Center, NY (1995, 1996); American Museum of Natural History (1996, 1997); Florence Gould Hall (1997); Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center in Association with Brooklyn Museum and Museum of Modern Art (1999); Clark Studio Theater at Lincoln Center (1999); Lincoln Center Institute for the Arts in Education (1999-2000); Arts Councils of Anchorage, AK (various); South Carolina (various); Japan Society Education Department (2000, 2001, 2003, 2006, 2008)

2000s       Kurt Weill Festival 2000, Japan Society (2000); Walter Bruno Auditorium, Performing Arts Library at Lincoln Center, NY (2000, 2005); NY Botanical Garden (2001); Michener Art Museum, PA(2001);  Silvia Furhman Center for Performing Arts, NYC (2001); Kansas University (2002); Morikami Museum and Japanese Garden, FL (2002); The Theater of the Riverside Church, NYC (2002); Cherry Blossom Festival, Japan American Society of Greater Philadelphia  (2002); Uris Auditorium, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY (2003); The Poietis Theater (2003); Untermyer Performing Arts Center (2004); Philadelphia Art Museum (2004); Michael Schimmel Center for Arts Pace University (2004); South American tour of Chili, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Argentina, sponsored by the Japan Foundation of Japanese Foreign Ministry (2005); City Center, NY (2006); Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington D.C (2006); Mann Center for Performing Arts, Philadelphia, PA (2007); Gala Masako at the National Museum of Dance, Saratoga, NY (2007); Queens Public Library, Flushing, NY (2007);

Arts Bash by Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, New School University (2007); Tenri Cultural Institute, NYC (2008); Columbia University (2008); Congreso Mundial, sponsored by International Dance Council of Spain/UNESCO (2009); Stephens College MO (2009);  Young Audiences, NY(various); Japan Society Performing Arts and Education Department (various 2005, 2006)

2010s      Philadelphia Art Museum (2010); Joyce Soho (2010); Queens Library International Program (2010-January 2020); Lincoln Center Summer Festival: Portraits in Dramatic Time Video Installation, David Mechalik (2011); The Museum of the City of New York (2011); Ailey Citigroup Theater Joan Weill Center for Dance (2011); University of Missouri-St. Louis (2013); The Clurman Theatre (2013); Midori (2016-2019); Meet the Artist, Saturdays at Lincoln Center (2014); Queens Public Library, Flushing, NY (2014; Missouri Botanical Gardens (2014); 

Interfaith Peace Prayer on the 70th Year Commemoration of Hiroshima and Nagasaki Atomic Bombing, New York Society for Ethical Culture (2015); Yale University (2016); Columbia University (2015); Barnard College (2015-2020); Queens College (2019-2020);  Waves of Tradition, Brooksfield World Trade Center Rotunda (2017); Japan Society Performing Arts and Education Department (various); Tenri Cultural Institute (2015); Queens Public Library (2015); Brooklyn Botanical Garden (2015); TBG Theater (2015)

 Tenri Cultural Institute (2016); Hofstra University, Hempstead NY (2016); Long Branch Park, NJ (2016); Brooklyn Botanical Garden (2016); Tenri Cultural Institute, NY (2016); Queens Public Library. Flushing, NY(2016)

 Tenri Cultural Institute (2017); Tenri Cultural Institute (2017); Branch Brook Park, NJ  (2017); Brooklyn Botanical Garden (2017); Brookfield Place, NY (2017); Baruch Performing Arts Center, NYC (2017); Queens Public Library. Flushing, NY (2017);

The Children’s Museum, Wesleyan University (2018); Japan Society (2018); Tenri Cultural Institute (2018); Branch Brook Park, NJ (2018); Brooklyn Botanic Garden  (2018)

 Tenri Cultural Institute (2019); Japan Society (2019); Washington DC-(2019); Bloomfest Essex County Cherry Blossom Festival, NJ (2019); Brooklyn Botanic Garden (2019); Flushing Library, Queens (2019); Beginning with Children Charter School (2019); World’s Fair, Queens, Citi Field (2019); International Day, Celebration of Global Unity at Seiamen’s (2019); Barnard College Theater Department (2019); Queens College Dance Department (2019)

2020s      New Year Celebration, Nippon Club, NY; Beat of the Boroughs: NYC Streamed by Center for Traditional Music and Dance (November 30, 2020); Queens Library (1/4/2020); Tenri Cultural Institute (1/12/2020); Brooklyn Botanical Garden (2021); Gowanus Boat Basin (2021)

 

Sakura Matsuri (Cherry Blossom) and Other major Festivals

Brooklyn Botanic Garden Sakura Matsuri Festival, Inaugural to COVID closing years (1981-2019); Cherry Blossom Festival, Philadelphia, PA (2002, 2003); Asian Festival, Columbus, OH (2005); 27th Downtown Dance Festival, Battery Park, New York (2008); Essex County Bloom Fest, NJ (2016-2019); Japanese Festival, St Louis, MO (2014); National Cherry Blossom Festival, Washington D.C. (2019); World’s Fair Field Festival, NY (2019);

Annual Major Performances

Japan Society (1974, 75, 77, 79, 80); Theater of the Open Eye (1981); Theater of the Riverside Church (1982, 1984, 2002); Asia Society (1984,1987); Marymount Manhattan Theater (1989); French Institute Alliance Française, NY (1997); Joyce SoHo (1999, 2001, 2010); Sylvia Fuhrman Center at UN International School (2001); Pace University (2004, 2006); Alvin Ailey Dance Theater (2011); Baruch Performing Arts Center (2017)

Choreographer/Performer Broadway/Off Broadway/International

Monkey Music (1980), And the Soul Shall Dance, La Mama Theatre (1977); Three Irish Noh Plays, Ireland and NY (1978); Pacific Overtures, Stephen Sondheim (Revival,1984); Shogun MacBeth (1985, 2008); Dojoji: The Man Inside the Bell, Pan Asian Repertory Theater (2013); Ghost Light (2015), La Luna Productions, NYC (2018)

Collaborations with major artists, scholars, and performance Professionals (selective):

La Meri, Jean Erdman, Stephen Sondheim, Isamu Noguchi, Teiji Ito, Wataru Ohashi, Donald Keene, Ralph Samuelson, Tisa Chang, Mariko Sanjo, Wendy Whelan, Robert Mitchell, Beate Sirota Gordon, David Mechalik, Matthew Barney 

SALON SERIES – A series of informative lectures, demonstrations, and performance on the culture and performing arts of Japan. (Selected from 68 Salons 1998 -2020. A full list is available at www.dancejapan.com.)

1990s      No. 3 Techniques and Styles of Jiuta-mai as Compared to Kabuki and Okinawan Court Dance Forms (July 11, 1999) 

              No. 4 The Art of Walking in Japanese Dance (Oct. 31, 1999).

2000s       No. 9 Transformation and the Power of Obsession in Dojoji and Other Kabuki Plays (March 11, 2001)

               No. 10 The Concept of Power in Female Style Dance Forms and Narratives in Indonesia, and its Relationship to the Dojoji Legend of Japan (Apr 15, 2001)

               No. 12 Karate & Okinawan Dance  (Jan 20, 2002)

               No. 23 Renku and Dance: An Afternoon of Improvisation with Linked Verses and Dance with Haiku Society of America Poets. (Oct. 16, 2005). Guest Artists:

2010s       No. 43 Meditation in Sound and Movement (May 20, 2012)

               No. 48 Ma: Creating Sacred Space and Time, Here and Now (February 9, 2014)

               No. 49 Ma and Breathing in Dance and Healing (April 6, 2014)

               No. 55  Creating Sacred Space II: Japanese Nature Worship and Labyrinth Walk, (May 15, 2016)

               No. 58  Itinerant Performers in Japan and Russia, and Impact of Anna Pavlova (Mar 12, 2017)

               No. 61  For Future Generations: Free Workshop for Children and Forum to Nurture Traditional Performing Arts of Japan (March 11, 2018)  

               No. 64 Dances and Cultures of the Himalayas and Ja   pan (March 17, 2019) 

2020s       No. 67 Virtual Salon Series, Prayer for Healing and Peace through the Symbolism of Cranes (Nov 5, 2020)

               No. 68 Virtual Salon Series, Symbolism of Snow (January 31, 2021)

 

AWARDS AND CERTIFICATIONS

1968       Natori Certification, Hanayagi School of Japanese Classical Dance, Tokyo

1973       Peace International Scholarship, Peace International, Augusta, GA

2002       Natori Certification, Fujima School of Japanese Classical Dance, Tokyo

2008       Foreign Minister’s Award, Foreign Ministry of Japan, in recognition of 30 years dedicated to intercultural exchange and bridging USA and Japan through Japanese dance and culture

2011       Proclamation, Mayor of New York City, in honor of 30th anniversary of Sachiyo Ito and Company and service to New York City

2004, 2006, 2008, 2013, 2020     Recipient of the Japan Foundation Arts and Culture Award

 

Published Articles 

1979       “Japanese Expressions as They Appear in Dance.” Dance Research Journal, No. X, NY: CORD

1988       “Origins of Traditional Okinawan Dance.” Choreologia, Japanese Society for Dance Research, Tokyo  

                Origins of Traditional Okinawan Dance, Ph.D. Dissertation, UMI

               “Geisha Dance” and “Okinawan Dance.” International Encyclopedia of Dance, NY: Oxford University Press

 

MEMBERSHIP AFFILIATIONS

Japanese American Association of New York, Community of Mindfulness, NY Metro

Japanese American Association of New York