KARAS_SABURO TESHIGAWARA

Biography

Saburo Teshigawara

Saburo Teshigawara founded the company KARAS together with Kei Miyata in 1985, beginning from that moment to create works not only for himself but also for other performers.
Since then, he has toured internationally with KARAS, appearing in many of the world’s leading theatres and festivals.
In 1994, he was invited by William Forsythe to create a work for the Ballet Frankfurt, marking the beginning of a long series of commissions from major dance companies around the world. These include Le Sacre du Printemps for the Bayerisches Staatsballett in 1999, a creation for the Nederlands Dans Theater in 2000, AIR for the Ballet de l’Opéra National de Paris in 2003 — followed by further creations in 2013 and 2017 — and Para-Dice (2002) and Vacant (2006) for the Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève.
In 1999, he directed his first opera production, Turandot, followed by numerous other opera stagings, including Dido & Aeneas for Teatro La Fenice in 2010.
From 2006 to 2013, Teshigawara served as professor at St. Paul’s University (Rikkyo University) in Japan, teaching in the Department of Expression Studies.
His work has received numerous prestigious awards in Japan and internationally, including the Bessie Award in 2007 and the Emperor’s Gold Medal in 2009. In 2017, he was named Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Ministry of Culture.
Since January 2020, he has served as Artistic Director of the Aichi Prefectural Art Theater.

Rihoko Sato

Rihoko Sato joined KARAS in 1996 and has since performed in all of the company’s productions, while also assisting Saburo Teshigawara in many of his creations. She is considered one of the central figures within the choreographer’s artistic universe.
She has been actively involved in KARAS educational programs and in S.T.E.P. (Saburo Teshigawara Educational Project), and has also worked alongside Teshigawara as ballet master for productions commissioned by other companies.
Among her many recognitions are the Best Dancer Award at the Les Étoiles de Ballet2000 Awards in Cannes (2005) for her duet with Václav Kuneš in Scream and Whisper, the Japan Dance Forum Award (2007), the 40th Positano “Leonide Massine” Award for Dance (2012), the Japan Dance Critics New Face Award (2016), and the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology’s Art Encouragement Prize for Dance (2018).
In September 2019, she created her first choreography, Traces, for Aterballetto.