Takei, Kei (1946–)

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Takei, Kei (1946–)

Japanese choreographer and dancer. Born Keiko Takei, Dec 30, 1946, in Tokyo, Japan; studied dance on a Fulbright at Juilliard in NY, 1967–69; studied with Alfred Corvino, Trisha Brown, Anna Halprin and at the Merce Cunningham Studio and the Alwin Nikolais School.

Won 1st choreography prize at age 12 for March of Good Friends; founded her own company, Moving Earth, in NY (1969), later named Moving Earth Orient Sphere and rebased in Tokyo; choreographed 1st of ongoing series of dances entitled Light (1969), a series that contains over 30 individual parts with subtitles including Wind Field, Rice Field, Dream Catcher's Diary, and Pilgrimage; also choreographed for Nederlands Dans Theater, Inbal Dance Theater, Shaliko Theater Company (NY), Shinjinkai Theater Co. (Japan), among others. Further works include Playing this everyday Life (1971), The Dreamcatchers (1982), Whirlwind Field (1982), Wild Grass River Festival (1989), and Time Diary (1994).