My dance style came from taking a new look at my body – Teita Iwabuchi

Teita Iwabuchi is a contemporary dancer and choreographer based in Japan and this month, he held a workshop and performed in Sydney. Teita is known for his dance style which incorporates Western contemporary dance with some unique Japanese approaches to the movement of the body.

Teita Iwabuchi Source: Hironobu Hosokawa

Teita Iwabuchi (Yoshitaka Shimada) Source: Yoshitaka Shimada

These unique approaches include movements he learned from Japanese martial arts, Butoh (a style of contemporary Japanese dance), and Japanese traditional dance. Teita tells us how his journey to establish his own style came after he got serious about dancing when he was at uni.

Also, Yumina Kato, a director of Steep Slope Studio in Yokohama, joins the conversation. Steep Slope Studio is a hub for performing artists and Teita is a resident artist of the studio.

Yumina Kato Source: Yumina Kato