Yuko Hamada © All rights reserved

Biography

Yuko Hamada is a choreographer/dancer of Japanese traditional dance, Nichibu.  Ever since she was three, she's had dance training on both the traditional Nichibu dances and contemporary dances of various forms.  At age 15, she joined an all-women theater company in Japan called Takarazuka, and she would mainly perform male roles for six years.  After coming to New York, she studied dramatic writing at Tisch School of Arts — New York University.  

While studying at the University, she wrote, directed and produced three Off-Off Broadway plays Flower of Water – two incense sticks –, Flower  of Water  2 – awaking from two beings -, Mt. Asagi, and so on. Meanwhile she appeared on major TV and other campaign advertisements such as the one for Budweiser (dancing Japanese traditional dance with Salsa music), Delta Air Lines (Oregon-Japan flight posters) and others.  Also she appeared in a Nile Rogers music video as a geisha woman.   

Many newspaper and magazine articles introduced Yuko’s shows and two documentary TV programs were made by NHK (Japanese equivalent of BBC in the U.K.)  She later established a non-profit organization, Japan Performing Arts, Inc.  Recently her choreographed dance pieces are seen in many cultural events at local schools, hospitals and other community events.  In 2008, Yuko launched PanoramAsian Dance Project, which is a dance performance project with dancers from five Asian countries (including Japan) along the Silk Road with her original story.  This project was invited at the United Nations headquarters in October 2008 and also performed at Pace University in November 2008.