When they met in 1971 as performers with Tokyo’s Tatsumi Hijikata company, Eiko and Koma Otake were law and political science students. Their collaboration began as an experiment which has now lasted well over four decades. 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. They have specialized in site-specific work and museum installations, with prominent commissions from the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Walker Art Center. Since 2014, they have created solo projects including Eiko’s A Body in Places and rock is broken, and Koma’s The Ghost Festival. Performed nude and with no music except the sound of dripping water, Passage was developed from a group piece entitled Canal.
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