KANAMI KUSAJIMA
Kanami Kusajima is a dancer, choreographer, and performing artist based in New York City. She started her dance training at the age of 6 in a small local dance studio in Japan. In 2020, she graduated Summa Cum Laude with a BFA in Dance from SUNY Purchase College.
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She has performed in dance works by various choreographers, including Martha Graham, Francesca Harper, Yoshiko Chuma, Ana Maria Lucaciu, Erin Landers, and Meagan Ahern. She was also a soloist in the US premiere of "Saveur" by the Chinese-born France-based composer Xu Yi, which was composed for one percussionist and one dance performer.
She has also been performing at Washington Square Park since November 2020, known as "Let Hair Down," a performer combining live painting and improvisational dance. Her unique style of performing art has drawn the attention of different media, such as New York Magazine, AM New York, SHOWTIME, PIX11 News, The Guardian, Voyage LA, The Villager, and The Village Sun, among many others.
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Also, she was featured in a bus-stop Ad promotional project, "No Stopping New York," led by the NYC Mayor's Office in the 2021 summer season, which highlighted the resilience of NYC after the highest peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Her works have been presented in numerous different locations/events in NYC, such as Lavan 541 (Chelsea), ChaShaMa Performance Space at Port Authority Bus Terminal (Midtown), Triad Theater (Upper West Side), Brooklyn Art Cave, Brooklyn Moon, Art Bath (Midtown), ChaShaMa Gala 2023 (Midtown), Japan Fes NYC, among many others. She has also performed in Tokyo (Japan), London (UK), Colorado (US), Paris (France), and Strasbourg (France).
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While she continues performing at different locations worldwide, she also teaches improvisation dance classes at the PIZARTS Dance Gap Year Program.
Artist Statement
Whenever I dance, I aim to articulate the raw emotions of humans we cannot capture in words. In that way, I can have the most profound connections with people without being disturbed by language barriers.
Nobody needs to "understand" my dance. I only hope more and more people will experience my dance and feel anything they do. People do not need any knowledge or qualifications to watch my dance, just like anyone can enjoy music freely without having any professional knowledge.
In this accelerating world with technologies and digital content, my mission today is to keep holding the beauty of humanity through my live performances.