NINJA BALLET
Dance Company
桜
In this season of the cherry blossoms, Ninja Ballet returns to New York City with a one-night-only show! It’s my pleasure to invite you to our intimate venue provided by our honorable partner Goldish. Tickets are $150 and inclusive of dinner and traditional Japanese Tea Ceremony by tea master Yoshitsugu Nagano-sensei. Check our Eventbrite to reserve your spot. A light dinner will be served, so RSVP is required, and tickets are extremely limited!
“Shoko Tamai’s Ninja Ballet, established 2017, returns to New York City to grace the intimate space at Goldish, after a whirlwind tour in Mexico. Along with an all-star ensemble of otherworldly musicians and dancers, Ninja Ballet creates a mystical landscape where dance and martial arts become one.
This work, entitled “SAKURA”, balances the viewer along the razor’s edge of action and reaction, shifting genres as it weaves in and out of classical and contemporary movement. Shoko Tamai’s original choreography gives rise to new possibilities as it ventures into uncharted territory, where danger creeps around every corner, and each breath could be your last. In this uncertain realm, and face to face with the abyss, Ninja Ballet becomes free to express the unlimited potential of the human body.”
Featuring choreography by Shoko Tamai
Danced by Elisa Toro Franky
Shakuhachi by Adam Robinson
Drum (Music arrangement) by Mal Stein
Artwork by Pedro Cuni
Tea Ceremony by Yoshitsugu Nagano-sensei
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Click Eventbrite Sakura to get your tickets
*AMATERASU*
Sunday, February 5, 2023,| 6 PM
Naum Tulum
Join us for an immersive theatrical dance performance by *Shoko Tamai* set in an enchanting cenote.
With live music by *Camilo NU*, storytelling by *Alejandro Varela* and Asian dinner pairing accompanied by a downtempo DJ set of *Lea Kissa*.
We hope to see you there, get tickets soon because there are only 40 seats available!
https://amaterasu.eventbrite.com
NINJA BALLET 2023 FUNDRAISING
Dear friends & family of Ninja Ballet tribe,
On Saturday, October 1st start at 8 pm (door opens at 7:30 pm, if you come at 7:45 pm it’s perfect timing)
We will be dedicated this performance for fundraising to make Japan Tour happening for 2023 where we received from government grant from my hometown, Japan.
I am consistently in search of developing our universal language where we can communicate with other beings without speaking so much. But dancing, playing, musically.
I look forward to see you at this intimate studio show-casing in
Baby Cobra: 47 Thames St #206, Brooklyn, NY 11237
I am attaching this link below for a donation-based ticket to save your seat (super limited seat available at moment since space is very tight) please make sure to book before the weekend.
https://www.tickettailor.com/events/babycobrayoga/769411#
Thank you so much.
I hope to see you this Saturday evening.
NATURAL ABSTRACTIONS III
May 2022
Natural Abstractions III” is a mixed media dance performance that tells the story of the 2500 year evolution of Buddhism through the eyes of five Buddhist travelers who helped spread Buddhism throughout Asia, and eventually to the West, subsequently inspiring and informing the development of many forms of artistic expression. By combining dance, visual arts, and music, the production will highlight the universality of culture and the understanding that each individual propagates ideas that have developed through the transformation of very different cultural systems and religious beliefs.
The genesis for “Natural Abstractions III” emerged from a series of performances the Ninja Ballet undertook in Jan. 2020 that were inspired by the artworks of visual artist Bill Claps’ exhibition “Natural Abstractions”. The production brought these landscapes to life with original music and dance that incorporated traditional Japanese and Chinese martial arts and dance, fused with classical ballet and contemporary dance, with an original score performed live by composer/musician William Catanzaro.
We have researched the historical contexts and biographies of the Buddhist travelers, including: Bodhidharma, who brought Buddhism and martial arts from India to Shaolin Monastery in China in 480 CE; the monk Wonhyŏ Daisa, who brought Buddhism from China to Korea in 640 CE; the monk Eisai, who founded Shofukuji Temple on Kyushu island, bringing Zen Buddhism and tea from China to Japan; and the Japanese monk Santoka Taneda, who as a wandering pilgrim travelled through much of Japan as the country was emerging from feudalism prior to World War II, creating a modern free-form version of Haiku.
Choreographer Shoko Tamai: “ I have begun creating the sequences of my choreography, listening to nature sounds, closing my eyes and imagining myself walking through the lands in our story. I’m using my subconscious process to manifest the structure of the performance, integrating geography, space, humanity, and movement. I continue to meditate on this project and in the process I am going very deep into my spiritual side, in order to manifest a complete performance that embodies the ideals and essence of my vision.”