Minako Seki

Dancer, choreographer and teacher, founder of the Minako Seki Company.

Her artistic approach is inextricably linked to her personal philosophy of life, which holistically combines Vipassana meditation, macrobiotic nutrition and traditional Japanese body healing techniques.

Born in Japan, she has lived and worked in Berlin since 1986 and was initially influenced by the Japanese dancers Tetsuro Tamura and Anzu Furukawa.
What both masters have in common is the decisive consideration of the human and emotional level and the fusion of contemporary dance and physical theatre with the classical Butoh dance technique.

In her pieces, Seki explores the communication between consciousness and subconsciousness, the description of emotional states and the boundaries between reality and illusion, and has been working as a director and choreographer under her own name since 1996. She has always been interested in interdisciplinary projects; for example, she choreographed the opera “Die Endlösung” by Peter Michael Hamel and has worked several times on productions for performance groups such as Showcase Beat le Mot (“Nazi Super Menschen sind euch allen überlegen” at DingDongDom, HAU, etc.), 2014-2016, 2014-2016, 2014-2016, 2014-2016 and 2014-2016. a.), 2014-2016, “Animal Farm” at Theater an der Parkaue, 2014, “1534” at HAU, Theater im Pumpenhaus Münster and WUK Wien, 2010-2013, “Die Bremer Stadtmusikanten” at Theater an der Parkaue, 2010) and the group She She Pop (“Ende” at FFT Düsseldorf and Schwankhalle Bremen, 2013-2015).

Minako Seki was also part of the project “We Women”, which was created in collaboration with the Spanish dancer Sol Picó, Shantala Shivalingappa and Julie Dossavi. The piece (two-time finalist at the Spanish Max Prize Awards 2015 and 2016) celebrated great success in theatres such as the Grec Festival in Barcelona, the Fabbrica Europa in Florence and the FIBA Festival in Buenos Aires.

Minako Seki entered the world of flamenco in 2016 with her later production “Equilibrio Arcaico”. The piece is the first step in her collaboration with the renowned dancer and choreographer Israel Galván. In 2017, they will embark on an international tour with performances in major theatres such as the Festival d’Avignon, the Théâtre de La Ville du Luxembourg and many others.

She has been a guest professor at the Institute for Applied Theatre Studies in Giessen, the Folkwang Hochschule Essen and the Hochschule für Schauspielkunst Hamburg, among others.