Sachiyo Ito

Sachiyo Ito (伊藤さちよ), born July 31, 1949, is an artist and choreographer of classical, traditional, and contemporary Japanese dance, and arts educator in the United States since 1972https://dancejapan.com/wp-content/uploads/2004/04/Dance-Magazine-Jan-2008.pdf. Graham, Ruth. (2004, July 27). Sharing Her Art With a Flick of Her Fan and a Flutter of Her Kimono Sleeve. The New York Sun, p. 15. 
==Career==
Ito's professional debut was at the American Dance Festival held at Connecticut College in June 1972, where she gave a kabuki dance performance and offered a workshop. That fall, she began her Master of Arts degree in dance at NYU’s School of Education. Soon after, she began working for Japan House, now called Japan Society, to introduce the arts and culture of Japan into the New York City Tri-State area public schools. In the 1980s to 1990s, she performed for Asia Society’s education department, and from 1999 to 2000, she was a touring artist for Lincoln Center Institute for the Arts in Education. Lincoln Center Institute for the Arts in Education. (1999).1999-2000 Repertory. Summer Session Bulletin 1999 [Brochure], p.11.
Her New York debut in 1974 was at Japan HouseMcDonagh, Don. (1974, April 19). Control and Grace in Miss. Ito's Dance. The New York Times, p.25.Jowitt, Deborah. (1974, April 25). Dance. The Village Voice, p. 41., where she has offered a variety of performances and programsJowitt, Deborah. (1979, February 12). Who Are the Watchers, Who the Dancers? The Village Voice, p. 83.Anderson, Jack. (1979, January 19). Dance: Mythology of the Japanese. The New York Times, p.23.. Under the sponsorship of Japan House in the mid-1970s, she performed throughout the United StatesLawson, Evelyn. (1974, July 12). Sachiyo Ito Dances Show Rare Beauty. Cape Cod Standard-Times, p. 2.Bass Jr., James T. (1984, March 21). Skilled Japanese Dancers Show How Less Can Be More. Macon Telegraph and News. and Canada, earning the and the MidwestFox, Peter. (1985, April 19). Genius and Genesis in Kabuki Show. The Billings Gazette., where her performances were identified as the "Rocky's Kabuki."
From 1970 to 1980, she was invited to perform on tour throughout the United States with the All Nations Dance Company based at International House in New York CityAnderson, Jack. (1982, October 15). Dance: Sachiyo Ito Presents The Old and New Japanese. The New York Times.. Outside the USA, she has performed and offered workshops at Dublin Theatre Festival, Ireland (1979), Bonn International Dance Workshop, Germany (1983)Reichow-Schürmann, Von Christa. (1983, July 12). Tanzkunst auf leisen Sohlen. General-Anzeiger., and Congreso Mundial, Spain (2009). Her tour to South America in 2005, was sponsored by the Japan Foundation. Espectáculo gratuito de danzas japonesas. (2005, December 2). ABC.com.
Her performance credits include Japan Society (1974, 1979, 1980), New York City Center (1980), Theater of the Open Eye (1981), Asia Society (1981, 1983, 1984), Riverside Church (1982, 1984, 1986)"Sachiyo Ito to Capture Japanese Dance". SUNY Cortland. 5 March 2013.Harbarger, Molly (3 December 2009). "Japanese dance students at Stephens College prepare for performance". Columbian Missourian., Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. (2006), and Waves of Tradition at Brooksfield World Trade Center Rotunda (2017). Performances at Lincoln Center in New York include Performing Arts Library (1995, 1996, 2005), Allice Tully Hall (1999), Clark Studio Theatre (1999), Portraits in Dramatic Time (2011), and Meet the Artists (2014). Ito also performed at numerous museums throughout the United States, including Boston Museum of Fine Arts (1981), Metropolitan Museum of Art (2003), Philadelphia Museum of Art (1979, 2004), and Museum of the City of New York (2010).
In addition to her performing career, Dr. Ito has served as a visiting professor at collegesAnderson, Jack. (1982, October 15). Dance: Sachiyo Ito Presents The Old and New Japanese. The New York Times. and universities and gave workshops at numerous schools and cultural institutions. She also offered courses at several American colleges and universities including The Juilliard School and New York University, where she served as Adjunct Professor the 1970s to the 1980s. Parks, Gary. (1984, April 11). Sachiyo Ito: East Meets West. Washington Market Review, Vol. V, No. 17.
==Sachiyo Ito and Company==
In 1981, Ito founded Sachiyo Ito and Company, a performing dance company and school of classical, traditional, and contemporary Japanese dance that also offers workshops, lecture demonstrations and other educational and public events on Japanese dance and culture.Birzen, Lisa. (2009, October) Nihon Buyo -- Dance is a Mirror into Japanese Culture. Chopsticks NY, Vol. 30, p. 49.Berdah-Canet, Ruth. (2016, August). Sacred Traditions Meet Art in Traditional Dancing. Chopsticks NY, Vol. 112, p.36.
The company has performed for many festivals, including the Japanese festivals in Missouri Botanical Garden (1985, 2014)Sarah Bryan, Miller (August 29, 2014). "Sachiyo Ito & Co. brings classical dance to Japanese Festival". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. and cherry blossom festivals, such as Sakura Matsuri at Brooklyn Botanic Garden since 1981Tobol, Sarah. (2009, April 28). Sakura Matsuri: Cherry Blossoms Return to Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Brooklyn Daily Eagle., The Cherry Blossom Festival in Philadelphia in 2002 and 2003, Bloomfest at Branch Brook Park, Newark, NJ since 2015, and National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, D.C. in 2019, 2022, and 2023.
The 25th Anniversary concert (1997) of Ito's debut in USA was the Company's first home season concert to receive recognition for cultural exchange by the Japanese Ambassador of New York"Sachiyo Ito: 25th anniversary." (1997) [video]. General Dance Video Archive: Jerome Robbins Dance Division. New York Public Library. Retrieved October 9, 2022.. Subsequent benchmark performances, such as the 50th Anniversary Concert of Ito's Japan debut and 30th anniversary of Sachiyo Ito and Company, were supported by the Consulate General of Japan in New York. 
From 1998-2023 the Company presented its Salon Series, an ongoing program of performances and lecture-demonstrations that introduced and explored various aspects of Japanese performing arts and culture. Held three times a year, it was a forum for dialogue and exchange between audiences and world-class guest artists."世界の中での日本舞踊を伝えて". nyseikatsu.com. June 20, 2019. 
==Awards and commemorations==
In 2008, Sachiyo Ito received the Foreign Minister's Award from the Japanese Foreign Ministry in recognition of her work in introducing the arts and culture of Japan to the United States, and for fostering a good-will friendship between the countries."2008 Foreign Minister's Commendations". Consulate-General of Japan in New York. September 9, 2008.
In 2011, Ito received a Proclamation from the Mayor of New York City commemorating 30 years since the founding of Sachiyo Ito and Company non-profit organization."Sachiyo Ito Reflects on 30 Years of Teaching Japanese Dance in New York". Japan Culture NYC. January 7, 2012.
==Reception==
Numerous articles have been written about Ito's choreography and dance performances.
BK Reader
* Japanese Dancers Bring Extra Color to BK’s Blooming Botanic Garden. April 19, 2021."Japanese Dancers Bring Extra Color to BK's Blooming Botanic Garden". April 19, 2021.
New York Times
* Now Resurfacing, the Myth of the Serpent Scorned. May 27, 2013.Rocco, Claudia La (May 27, 2013). "Now Resurfacing, the Myth of the Serpent Scorned". The New York Times.https://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/28/theater/reviews/dojoji-the-man-inside-the-bell-at-clurman-theater.html
* Dance Review: Peace Quest, Personal and Global. December 14, 1999.Anderson, Jack (December 14, 1999). "DANCE REVIEW; Peace Quest, Personal and Global". The New York Times.https://www.nytimes.com/1999/12/14/arts/dance-review-peace-quest-personal-and-global.html
* The Dance: Sachiyo Ito, with a bow to the past. October 4, 1986.Anderson, Jack (October 4, 1986). "The Dance: Sachiyo Ito, with a Bow to the Past". The New York Times.https://www.nytimes.com/1986/10/04/arts/the-dance-sachiyo-ito-with-a-bow-to-the-past.html
* World Tour of Dance at Home. October 15, 1982.Anderson, Jack (October 15, 1982). "World Tour of Dance at Home". The New York Times.https://www.nytimes.com/1982/10/15/arts/world-tour-of-dance-at-home.html
* Dance: Sachiyo Ito Presents Classics at Japan House. February 22, 1980.Dunning, Jennifer (February 22, 1980). "Dance: Sachiyo Ito Presents Classics at Japan House". The New York Times.https://www.nytimes.com/1980/02/22/archives/dance-sachiyo-ito-presents-classics-at-japan-house.html
* The Theater: ‘And the Soul Shall Dance.' June 30, 1979.Corry, John (June 30, 1979). "The Theater: 'And the Soul Shall Dance'". The New York Times.https://www.nytimes.com/1979/06/30/archives/the-theater-and-the-soul-shall-dance-the-cast.html
* Dance: Mythology of the Japanese. January 19, 1979.Anderson, Jack (January 19, 1979). "Dance: Mythology of the Japanese". The New York Times.https://www.nytimes.com/1979/01/19/archives/dancemythology-of-the-japanese.html
* Control and Grace in Miss Ito’s Dance. April 19, 1974.1. "Control and Grace in Miss Ito's Dance". The New York Times. April 19, 1974.https://www.nytimes.com/1974/04/19/archives/control-and-grace-in-miss-itos-dance.html
|The Trinity Tripod
* Dancer Breathes Delicacy, Exquisite Movement into Oriental Dance Form. March 9, 1983.Brenman, Steven (March 8, 1983). "Dancer Breathes Delicacy, Exquisite Movement into Oriental Dance Form". The Trinity Tripod. p. 10.
Category:1949 births
Category:Japanese people
Category:Artists
Category:Choreographers
Category:Contemporary art
Category:Art educators