Our DanceWeekend’24 Artist Feature is ten ten + kiyo asaoka as a part of our live mainstage performances at The Fleck Dance Theatre, Harbourfront Centre.
Saturday, January 27, 2024 1pm – 6pm – IN-PERSON AND VIRTUAL
3:45pm ten ten + kiyo (Japanese Inspired Flamenco)
🔗 https://www.instagram.com/kiyoasaoka/
🔗 https://www.facebook.com/tenten1010canada/
About Kiyo Asaoka:
Kiyo Asaoka took her first steps into the Flamenco dance world in 1998, as a student at Arte Flamenco Spanish Dance Company. After she danced as a company dancer for 10 years, Kiyo also started working individually with a variety of artists, creating, choreographing, producing and directing.
Not only as a dancer, she also participates in the Toronto flamenco community as a teacher and also as the organizer of Tablao Flamenco Toronto, which provides monthly flamenco performances. Along with the passion and dedication to the traditional style flamenco Kiyo always has, she also has been eager to work on the Japanese-influenced style flamenco and collaborating with ten ten, a Japanese traditional music artist, to work on their own unique and new yet traditional creations.
While she continually strives with her strong commitment and passion for puro-flamenco to improve and studies under the tutelage of a various flamenco masters from Spain, as one of the long-time flamenco dancers in Toronto, she feels it’s her mission to keep on dancing and to keep flamenco exposed to the public. She believes flamenco doesn’t have politics and is inclusive, diverse and welcoming of all. She would like it to become more popular and the community gets more together and bigger for the next generation.
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself/your company?
A Japanese traditional music instrument player/singer Aki and a flamenco dancer Kiyo bring their collaborative artistic material together. It is a mix of two different art forms, and newness and tradition.
What will you be sharing at DanceWeekend’24?
We will present ‘Hikidashi’ which means ‘drawers’ in Japanese. The name came from the project that Aki Takahashi (from ten ten) and I have been working on for a while. The concept of the project is to create and increase material that we can have in our pockets, just like things in drawers, and at DanceWeekend’24, we would like to go through the material in our ‘hikidashi’, pick and thread through to put together to form a piece.
Our collaboration has the beauty of two completely different art forms from two different countries. But at the same time, you can see how well they blend together and compliment each other. This different, challenging yet enjoyable work is creating something ‘new’ but all comes from our great respect and dedication to the 2 art forms ‘traditional’.
How has the pandemic shifted your work as a professional dance artist?
I have a lot more appreciation that I am able to dance. I re-assure that even if I dance solo, I am never alone. There are always other people, who play music, who does lighting, who does sound and etc… I am just so thankful.
Please share what you are most looking forward to at DanceWeekend?
The beautiful stage I can have just to myself and my musicians. I am also so looking forward to working with the sound and lighting, because it’s always fantastic. And also, the connection with the audience. I can’t wait to feel the energy each other with them.
Do you have any up-coming performances/workshops/events you would like to share?
I organize a monthly flamenco performance called ‘Tablao Flamenco Toronto’!
In 1 or 2 sentences, what does dance mean to you?
Mirror of life
Stay Up to Date with Kiyo at their social media links below:
Facebook – Kiyo Asaoka
Facebook – Tablao Flamenco Toronto
Facebook – ten ten
Instagram – Kiyo Asaoka
Instagram – Tablao Flamenco Toronto