Performing Arts Japan
List of Awardees 2010-2011
The Japan Foundation is pleased to announce grant awards totaling US$271,500 to 13 organizationsin the United States through the PAJ Program for the 2010-2011 fiscal year. The grant recipients arelisted below. (Please contact the Japan Foundation, New York for further information and finalized
performance dates).
PAJ Touring Grant 2010-2011
Total projects: 7
Total funds allocated: $181,500
Grant amounts: $8,000 – $45,500
Arts Midwest (Minneapolis, MN) for a four city tour of Tsugaru-Shamisen master Hiromitsu
Agatsuma and his ensemble, as a part of Arts Midwest World Fest.
Tour Dates: March 20-April 10, 2011
Tour Locations: Capitol Theater (Aberdeen, SD); Vangstad Auditorium (Valley City, ND); DiscoveryMiddle School (Alexandria, MN); Knoxville Middle School (Knoxville, IA)
Inta, Inc. (New York, NY) for a nine city tour of The Retrospective Project, which aims to illustrate theartistry and trajectory of Eiko & Koma’s career.
Tour Dates: July 2010- June 2011
Tour Locations: Danspacce Project (New York, NY); American Dance Festival (Durham, NC);
Wesleyan University/CFA (Middletown, CT); Walker Arts Center (Minneapolis, MN); REDCAT (LosAngeles, CA); Miami Light Project (Miami, FL); Baryshnikov Arts Center (New York, NY); Museumof Contemporary Art (Chicago, IL);. Alverno College (Milwaukee, WI)
MAPP International Productions, Inc. (New York, NY) for a four city tour of Tyler Tyler, createdthrough a collaboration between postmodern choreographer Yasuko Yokoishi, based in New York
City, and master teacher of Kabuki Su-odori dance, Masumi Seyama, from Tokyo.
Tour Dates: October 6-30, 2010
Tour Locations: University of Massachusetts, Amherst (Amherst, MA); DiverseWorks Art Space(Houston, TX); North Fourth Art Center (Albuquerque, NM); The Dance Center of Columbia College(Chicago, IL)
Pocahontas County Opera House Foundation Inc. (Marlinton, WV) for Journey to Japan: A Puppet
Extravaganza!!!, a puppet show which tells the traditional Japanese folk tale of Issun Boushi (Little OneInch). It is performed by Tears of Joy Theater in Bunraku style and will travel throughout ruralcommunities of West Virginia.
Tour Dates: September 24-October 2, 2010
Tour Locations: Hillsboro Elementary School (Hillsboro, WV); Greenbank Elementary School(Greenbank, WV); Richwood Middle School (Richwood, WV); Pocahontas Opera House (Marlinton,WV); Carnegie Hall (Lewisburg, WV); Monongalia Arts Center (Morgantown, WV)

Tradex, a National Organization for Traditional Artists Exchange (Honolulu, HI) for a twelve
city tour of Kenny Endo's Taiko ensemble, premiering Endo’s newest work,
GATEWAY - "Ma" vs. Groove.
Tour Dates: October 6 – November 23, 2010
Tour Locations: University of Hawaii (Honolulu, HI); Belmont University (Nashville, TN) McDanielCollege (Westminster, MD); Texas A&M University (College Station); University of the South(Sewanee, TN); Bowling Green State University (Bowling Green, OH); University ofPittsburgh(Pittsburgh, PA); University of Mary Washington (Fredericksburg, VA) Swarthmore College(Swarthmore, PA); Stony Brook University (Stony Brook, NY)
University Musical Society (Ann Arbor, MI) for a seven city tour of the world renowned Butoh troupe
Sankai Juku, bringing Hibiki: Resonance from Far Away and Tobari: As if in an Inexhaustible flux.
Tour Dates: October 20-November 14, 2010
Tour Locations: Harris Theater (Chicago, IL); Power Center (Ann Arbor, MI); Grenada Theater (SantaBarbara); Orange County Performing Arts Center (Costa Mesa, CA); Paramount Theatre (Seattle, WA);
Stanford Univ. Memorial Auditorium (Palo Alto, CA); Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (San Francisco,CA)
Vista 360° (Jackson, WY) for a Yellowstone Region tour of Eitetsu Hayashi's Art of Taiko, inconjunction with the Jackson Hole Fire Festival, an annual event, which was inspired by the 600 year-oldFujiyoshida Fire Festival from the foot of Mt. Fuji.
Tour Dates: June 14-30, 2011
Tour Locations: Walk Festival Hall (Teton Village, WY); Wilson Auditorium (Bozeman, MT); Fine
Arts Center Concert Hall (Laramie, WY)

PAJ Collaboration Grant 2010-2011
Total projects: 6Total funds allocated: $90,000
Grant amounts: $3,500 – $20,000
Art Re Group, Inc. (San Francisco, CA) for an innovative acoustic collaboration by Takahiro
Kawaguchi and Jorge Bachman. The sound art performance will be presented as a part of Soundwave
festival, in the theme of GREEN>SOUND, in resonant spaces at Battery Townsley of the Golden Gate
National Recreation Area and at The Lab, San Francisco’s premier experimental art space.
Project Period: Summer 2010

HERE Arts Center (New York, NY) will develop the second phase of Secret Rendezvous, based on
Kobo Abe's novel of the same name, into dance-theatre style through the collaboration of The South
Wing (Brooklyn, NY) and the art collective Nibroll, led by MikuniYanaihara.
Project Period: Spring, 2011

Leah Stein Dance Company (Philadelphia, PA) will create a site-specific dance work at Shofuso, theJapanese House and Garden in Fairmount Park in Philadelphia, in collaboration with Toshi Makihara(percussionist), Roko Kawai (dancer/choreographer), Hideo Arai (dancer) and Mika Kimula (singer).
Project Period: August 2010- November 2010
New York Theater Workshop (New York, NY) will develop a new theater piece Recycling: washitales, which explores the cultural value and history of Japanese handmade paper (washi). Kyoko Ibe(paper artist), Naohiko Umewaka (Noh master), Shonosuke Okura (Otsuzumi percussionist), AraiShisui (Biwa player), Makiko Sakurai (vocalist), Sonoko Soeda (performer), Karen Kandel(performer), Jane Cox (lighting designer) and Elise Thompson (playwright/director) will join thecollaboration team.
Project Period: NYTW 2010-11 season
Playwrights' Center (Minneapplis, MN) will further develop DOE 2.0 (working title), a bi-lingual
cross-cultural performance piece, co-created by Trista Baldwin (playwright) and Shirotama Hitsujiya(director).
Project Period: August 2010
Ragamala Dance (Minneapolis, MN) will create a new dance piece, The World of the 1,001 Buddhas, inan illustration of the journey of Buddhism along the Silk Road. Ranee and Aparna Ramaswamy(Bharatanatyam choreographers/dancers), Wadaiko Ensemble TOKARA, led by Art Lee of Achi
Village, Japan, and a chenda ensemble of Kerala, India, will join the collaboration, interweaving
Japanese and Indian traditions.
Project Period: July 2010-June 2011

PAJ Advisory Committee Members (as of December 2009)
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Ms. Elizabeth Boone (Artistic and Executive Director, Miami Light Project)
Ms. Cathy Edwards (Director of Performance Programs, International Festival of Arts and Ideas)
Mr. Vallejo Gantner (Artistic Director, Performance Space 122)
Mr. Charles Helm (Director of Performing Arts, Wexner Center for the Arts, The Ohio StateUniversity)
Ms. Angela Mattox (Performing Arts Curator, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts)
Mr. Peter Taub (Director of Performance Programs, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago)
Mr. Sixto Wagan (Co-Executive Director/Performing Arts Curator, DiverseWorks Artspace)
Ms. MK Wegmann (CEO and President, National Performance Network)
Mr. Martin Wollesen (Director, University Events Office, UC San Diego)