IJS Co-Sponsored Event: Yukina Sato, Forrest Hershey, and the Columbus Koto Ensemble, "Transcendence 時を超えて"

The Department of Dance, Institute for Japanese Studies, Center for Ethnic Studies, and Japanese Graduate Studies Association present:

"Transcendence 時を超えて"

Yukina Sato
The Ohio State University

Forrest Hershey
The Ohio State University

in collaboration with

Jessica Entis

Lori Fannin

and

Lisa Reaves

of the Columbus Koto Ensemble

Abstract: This performance invites the audience to transcend time and space. This collaboration between two Ohio State dancers and the Columbus Koto Ensemble honors the memory of Saeko Ichinohe, a Japanese pioneer in the 1970s performing arts scene. Ichinohe merged her Western concert dance training with Japanese traditional dance. The process of reconstructing one of her dance pieces from Labanotation allows us to understand the intersection between contemporary and traditional art. Yukina Sato, a 2nd-year MFA candidate in Ohio State’s Dance Department, will also showcase her own choreography to pieces performed by the Columbus Koto Ensemble. This collaboration seeks to present an embodied history of cultural interflows and the meeting of old and new.

Yukina Sato is a Graduate Teaching Associate and MFA candidate in the Department of Dance at The Ohio State University. Yukina was born in Tokyo, Japan. She had formal training in ballet, modern dance, jazz dance, aerial arts, and hip hop. She received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Central Oklahoma in 2020. She was a former member of Kaleidoscope Dance Company and worked with various performing artists such as 10 Hairy Legs, Larry Keigwin, Lea Cox, Noa Shiloh, James Gregg, RubberLegz, and Diavolo -architecture in motion-. She aspires to share with Japanese artists and audiences the knowledge that she has obtained through her experiences in the United States and to build a bridge between young artists in Japan and the U.S.

Forrest Hershey is a Graduate Teaching Associate and MFA candidate in the Department of Dance at The Ohio State University. Prior to coming to OSU, Forrest was a member of the West Virginia Dance Company (WVDC) or five seasons, touring throughout West Virginia and the Mid-Atlantic region. While in WVDC he danced in multicultural STEAM performances, taught arts integrated workshops for over ten thousand students in K-12 schools each year, and assisted with the company’s marketing. He has been on faculty at Valley Dance Studio (2016-2021) and Academy of Arts at January’s (2020-2021), teaching dance classes in ballet, contemporary, jazz, conditioning, improvisation and setting choreography on the studio's performing companies.

The Columbus Koto Ensemble has been bringing the sounds of the koto to Columbus and Central Ohio since 2014. Their music shows the diversity and versatility of the koto, which is similar to a Western harp or dulcimer. Their repertoire includes a wide range of music, from traditional works, mesmerizing modern compositions, and innovative cover songs of rock, pop, and anime favorites.