Takao Kawaguchi

Takao Kawaguchi (1962, Japan) began his carreer through the study of “mime”, a type of movement theatre based on pantomime. These learnings informed his craft as he participated in several projects ranging from experimental theatre to dance and performance art, using his body as his sole medium.

He joined the famous Japanese performance group Dumb Type from 1996 until 2008, whilst pursuing a solo career from 2000. Kawaguchi’s work as a whole explores the boundaries between theatre, dance, video, and their collusion under the term ‘art’. His research and performances of late focused on butoh, creating The Sick Dancer in 2012 and About Kazuo Ohno in 2013, the latter being nominated for an NYC Bessie Award.

Today, Kawaguchi has been a lecturer at Joshibi University of Art and Design since 2014 and the Artistic Director of Tokyo Real Underground (an online festival of Butoh-affiliated performances) since 2021. Recipient of The Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology's Art Encouragement Prize of the fiscal year 2021/22.