Karin Kitaoka May 2026

"I am not blending East and West," she stated in a 2023 keynote at the Harvard Dance Center. "I am trying to find the movement that exists before geography is applied to a spine."

Her answer, resoundingly, is yes. And that is why Karin Kitaoka remains one of the most important—and most difficult—artists working today. If you are researching for academic study or artistic inspiration, it is recommended to view her short film "Tendon Study No. 4" (available via the UbuWeb archive) and to read Dr. Helena Marques’ critical text, "The Asymmetry of the Soul: Karin Kitaoka’s Null Poetics." karin kitaoka

Her turning point came during a residency in rural Slovenia, where she spent six months living without electricity or mirrors. Cut off from external validation, she began experimenting with what she termed "blind choreography"—movement generated purely by internal acoustic sensation rather than visual aesthetics. This period gave birth to her seminal 2015 piece, "Kata no Naka no Yami" (The Darkness Inside the Shoulder Blade) , which won the prestigious Impulstanz Award for Experimental Performance. To analyze Karin Kitaoka’s work, one must abandon the vocabulary of traditional dance criticism. She does not use counts, formations, or predictable phrasing. Instead, Kitaoka has developed a unique pedagogical system currently taught at institutes like P.A.R.T.S. in Brussels and the Tokyo University of the Arts. "I am not blending East and West," she