Profile

Naoko Maeshiba

naoko maeshibaDancer, Choreographer, Director. Born in Kobe, Japan, Naoko Maeshiba comes from a diverse background in literature, linguistic anthropology and theatre. Since 1993, she has studied with Min Tanaka, trained in Limon technique with Betty Jones and Fritz Ludin, and learned Noh technique with Akira Matsui and Richard Emmert, as well as numerous other Pacific Asian dance forms.

Maeshiba's work has focused on revealing the body's true expression in the form of non-verbal dance/theatre. In this process, she attempts to reach the unveiled state of the body through its contact with the immediate environment. She approaches space and time in a way that allows dance to visit and emerge out of the body. In 2002, She founded a performance unit/lab, Naoko Maeshiba/Kibism in order to pursue her inquiry about the depth of the body, examine various forms of perception in search for the absolute essence in expression, and further the potential interaction between different disciplines and cultures.

maeshiba performanceMaeshiba's solo and ensemble works have been experienced in both traditional and non-traditional venues in the North America, Europe, and Japan. From 2005 to 2006, she toured  a multi-media collaboration piece with Chas Marsh,  Remains of Shadow,  to three festivals in the U.S. (Capital Fringe Festival, DC; Questfest, MD; Ko Festival of Amherst, MA).  Her work Trace (Kennedy Center Millennium Stage, DC, 2004) was commissioned by Kennedy Center Local Dance Commissioning Project and received Metro DC Dance Award for Excellence in Sound Design. Most recently, she explored photography, dance, and live music in “Shining Fish,” a collaboration with an electronic musician Yoko K. and a photographer Riichi Yamaguchi for the exhibit “Modernity Stripped Bare: Undressing the Nude in Contemporary Japanese Photography” at the University of Maryland, College Park. Her twelve-performer ensemble piece “Paraffin” received Best Dance Performance Award in “Best of Baltimore” 2009. In 2010, she conducted an artist residency at CESTA (Cultural Exchange Station in Tabor, Czech Republic), examining how the sensation of movements in the body can be transmitted from one location to another.

She has taught workshops/classes at Joy of Motion (DC), Ko Festival of Performance at Amherst (MA), Shakespeare Theatre's Southeast Project (DC), Leneon Theatre Company (DC), Honolulu Theatre for Youth (DC), and Theatre of Yugen (San Francisco, CA). In March 2005 she held an artist residency to teach and work with the actors at National Film, TV, and Theatre School in Lodz, Poland. Currently she holds an associate professorship at Towson University.

Awards

'b' award
Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance
2011
Individual Artist Award in Solo Dance Performance
Maryland State Arts Council, MD
2004, 2006, 2010, 2011
Excellence in Sound Design Award
Metro DC Dance Award, Washington DC
2005
Individual Artist Award in Choreography
Maryland State Arts Council, MD
2005
Individual Artist Grant
Baltimore Office of Promotion & Arts
2005
Local Dance Commissioning Project Award
Kennedy Center, Washington DC
2003
Individual Artist Fellowship Grant
DC Commissions on the Arts and the Humanities & NEA
2001
Allen Lee Hughs Fellowship (Artistic Directing)
Arena Stage, Washington DC
1999
Burnett/Selleck Scholarship
Diamond Head Theater, HI
1997