Amano Uzumi

Amano Uzumi is a butoh dancer and master of the traditional Japanese flower art. She became a disciple of Hijikata Tatsumi in 1985 and of Tomeo Shizune in 1987. She was the principal dancer in Magdalene of the Skin Cosmos − the Story of a Tree, a piece choreographed, directed and with music composed by Tomeo Shizune, which was presented in the official programme of Toga Festival in 1989. She was also a performer in many other works of Tomeo Shizune. She has performed at the Joyce Theater in New York, the Adelaide Festival, as part of the official programme of the Edinburgh International Festival and, as a guest performer, in Madame Butterfly in the Opera de Lyon and Magic Flute in NHK Opera in Tokyo. She was assistant director on a Nankuan Opera piece, a collaboration with a traditional theatre in Taiwan performed at Taipei National Experimental Theatre, directed and choreographed by Tomeo Shizune. The work won the grand prix of the Fifth Taishin Arts Awards in 2007, and it was invited in 2010 to Festival de L’imaginaire at the Opera Bastille in Paris, where it enjoyed high acclaim.