Saeko Ichinohe Dance Company

1983

Choreography: Saeko Ichinohe

From NIWA, Japanese Garden 

Movements of falling leaves danced in floating Kimono to the music of J.S. Bach.

Saeko Ichinohe    

Photo: Kenn Duncan^©

1979

Choreography: Saeko Ichinohe

Saeko Ichinohe  

Photo: Nan Melville^©  

Once there was a beautiful willow tree in a Japanese village.  When the villagers planned to build a bridge with the willow tree, a man who admired the tree provided the necessary wood and saved the tree. 

Soon after, he met a girl under the tree, fell in love, married and lived happily until the emperor cut down the tree to build a temple.

1966

Choreography: Saeko Ichinohe

   A fire-eating bird is looking longingly at the crescent moon.The bird is thirsty.

   Katie Higham-Kessler

   Photo: Nan Melville _^©

2005

Choreography: Saeko Ichinohe

A prayer for peace and harmony in honor of those who have lost their lives by terrorist attacks and natural disasters.                                                                                                                

Haruno Yoshida and Katie Higham-Kessler

Décor: Cornelia Ruehlicke

 Photo: Nan Melville^©

Corneila Ruehlicke's paintings are a meditation on the universal symbolism of The Pearl. She is exploring the metaphor for light and transcendence of this mysterious object of Nature.

1995

 Traditional Japanese dance.

The choreography was adapted from a traditional dance from the 8th Century.
This is one of the few known dances performed by a woman.

   Saeko Ichinohe

   Photo: Johan Elbars ^©

1984 

Choreography: Saeko Ichinohe

Extra-terrestrials arrive on the planet.                                                         

 Photo: © Kenn Duncan 

2009

Choreography: Saeko Ichinohe
A new commissioned work for the Canton Ballet in Canton, Ohio.
(The dance is not yet part of Saeko Ichinohe Dance Company's repertoire.)

Set to sounds of Japanese wind chimes and Contemporary music for Japanese traditional instruments by Katsutoshi Nagasawa
A man hears the wind whispering gently.
For 1 male dancer, 8 female dancers as the wind and 3 male dancers as Kuroku*.
(* The Kuroko are the black-robed stage assistants used in Japanese Kabuki Theater. In this dance the Kuroko perform not only in the Japanese traditional capacity, but also assist in additional areas. )           

The new work was commissioned in conjunction with “Homage to Nature”, an exhibition of Japanese Kimono Art by Itchiku Kubota at the Canton Museum of Art.   Itchiku Kubota (1917 – 2003) rediscovered ancient techniques of the art of fabric dying and handling to produce a stunning series of kimonos, 40 of were shown in US Museums – first in San Diego, and then in Canton Ohio.