ABOUT SAIKO
Saiko studied dance at Ochanomizu University in her native Japan. After graduating, she spent time creating solos in collaboration with musicians and visual artists for theatre as well as for site-specific locations in Tokyo, Yokohama and Seoul.  She received the Yokohama Art Foundation Prize for her choreography for Edge.  In 2004, she was granted a fellowship from the Japanese government's Agency for Cultural Affairs to study with Jose Cazeneuve in France.  She has been a dancer with Russell Maliphant Company since 2005, performing in Transmission and Cast No Shadow.

ABOUT THE WORK
For a long time Saiko has been thinking about how choreographers can expand an audience's imagination.  Lighting, especially the use of darkness and shadow, is very helpful, as when it changes it can create an illusion of movement. When we are in darkness, we try to watch carefully and our senses are heightened. A collaboration with Shizuka Hariu (set), Jackie Shemesh (lighting) and dancer Takashi Ueno, Saiko's piece will be about the dual effects of light and darkness - a bit of fantasy and a bit of sacredness, like a Japanese ghost story (a kaidan).

WHERE YOU HAVE SEEN HER
Saiko is a dancer with Russell Maliphant Company.  She presented her solo The Three Cornered World in this year's Resolution! at The Place.

WHERE YOU CAN SEE HER NEXT
The Three Cornered World was so well received, Saiko was asked to return to The Place for this year's Spring Loaded.