Born and raised in Japan, Eiko Otake is a New York-based movement artist, performer, and choreographer who worked for more than 40 years as part of Eiko & Koma. Since 2014, she has pursued her own solo projects. When they met as performers with Tokyo’s Tatsumi Hijikata company in 1971, Eiko and Koma Otake were law and political science students. In addition to their work with Hijikata, they studied with another key Butoh figure, Kazuo Ohno, as well as with exponents of the German modern dance tradition. Based in New York City since 1976, they have presented their works at theaters, universities, museums, galleries and festivals world-wide, specializing in site-specific work and museum installations at the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Walker Art Center, and elsewhere. Commissioned by Jacob’s Pillow in honor of its 85th Anniversary, A Body at the Pillow is a site-specific component of the solo project known as A Body in Places. The Pillow later commissioned Eiko to memorialize the Doris Duke Theatre with a site-specific film entitled rock is broken.
LEARN MORE ABOUT THIS DANCE AND OTHER SITE-SPECIFIC WORKS IN MAURA KEEFE’S ONLINE ESSAY
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