Oguri
Oguri is an internationally acclaimed dancer who has been described as a master at redirecting the way one sees and encounters the physical environment, his dance emphasizing the unpredictable. He produces full-evening solo and ensemble work, improvising and collaborating with musicians, sculptors, painters, poets, and literature.
Biography
Oguri is an artist-in-residence at the Electric Lodge in Venice where he conducts Body Weather training workshop, a forum for investigating the body and dance. Native of Japan, Oguri’s inspiration to dance came after meeting Butoh founder Hijikata Tatsumi. He started training/performing in 1985 with famed dancer Min Tanaka's company, Mai-Juku and participated in founding Body Weather Farm. He practiced traditional organic farming, experiencing the rhythms and cycles of this most human lifestyle. This connection of the human body to nature is a foundation of Oguri’s dance. In 1991, Oguri moved to Los Angeles and formed Body Weather Laboratory LA with Roxanne Steinberg. For over 30 years, he has been teaching, creating and producing dance and multi-media works incorporating his own large-scale set/sculpture installations and his dramatic, often chiaroscuro lighting in formal theater settings and site-specific venues worldwide. He continues to investigate the relationship of dance to environment and the boundaries between performer and audience. Oguri has developed collaborative projects with musicians, sculptors, painters, and poets, using literature, daily life imagery and simple materials to transform space and time with dance. He actively brings dance to the wider community. Since 1998, twice a year, Oguri produces “Flower of the Season”, a series of workshops and performances, giving national and international emerging and master dance artists opportunities to develop and present work. In 2011, Oguri formed ARCANE Collective with Morleigh Steinberg, touring full productions and live concepts.
Oguri has received grants and awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, California Arts Council, The Annenberg Foundation, the New England Foundation for the Arts, National Dance Project, the Rockefeller Foundation, The City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, The Getty Center, the James Irvine Foundation/Dance USA, Japan Foundation, United State Artist Doris Duke Fellow 2018, among others. He was a visiting faculty member at Bennington for Spring 2019.