Kizuna Dance in "FATHER ABSENCE | MOTHER MA" (World Premiere)
Company:
Kizuna Dance
Kizuna Dance creates works using the similarities and divergences—linguistic, historical, aesthetic—between the American and Japanese cultures as primary drivers. For the company’s 10-year anniversary in 2024, Kizuna Dance premieres a deeply personal work by Artistic Director Cameron McKinney. A way of processing the recent death of his birth father who abandoned his family at a young age, FATHER ABSENCE | MOTHER MA brings a hyperphysical focus to the Japanese concept of “ma,” or the possibilities inherent in the empty spaces between objects and bodies. Through a movement language that blends street dance styles, capoeira, and contemporary floorwork, the work will explore the many aspects of loss and the emotional residue of being left behind.
Founded in 2014, Kizuna Dance creates works for those who want to connect, and for those who feel we are all already connected, using both the similarities and divergences – linguistic, historical, aesthetic – between the American and Japanese cultures as primary drivers. With over 18 years of Japanese language study, Artistic Director Cameron McKinney’s work has been recognized through fellowships from the U.S.-Japan Friendship Commission, The School at Jacob’s Pillow, Princeton University, Alvin Ailey Foundation’s New Directions Lab, and the Asian Arts Council; by support from the MidAtlantic Arts Foundation, Brooklyn Art Council, and the New York City Artists Corps; and through commissions from numerous institutions across the country and abroad. His teaching credits include Gibney Dance and Adjunct & Visiting Lecturer positions at Princeton University, NYU Tisch, Montclair University, and Bard College.
Kizuna Dance has performed nationally and internationally at prestigious institutions such as The Japan Society, Performatica, the Let’s Dance International Frontiers Festival, Gibney Dance, and Middlebury College’s Japanese Language School, among many others. In February 2020, Artistic Director Cameron McKinney performed company repertory alongside work by Japanese choreographer Toru Shimazaki at the U.S. Ambassador’s Residence in Tokyo, Japan. In July 2019, the company had its French premier at the International Choreographic Festival of Blois on the National Stage, “La Halle aux Grains” in Blois, France.
Kizuna Dance has led workshops and residencies in twenty states and in Japan, Mexico, France and the UK. The company’s OPEN INTENSIVE program began in 2021 and annually creates a safe and welcoming space for 100 students to train in contemporary floorwork entirely for free in New York City.
The work was developed through a residency supported by the CUNY Dance Initiative (CDI), an expansive program providing New York City choreographers and dance companies with creative residencies on CUNY college campuses. www.cuny.edu/danceinitiative
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