I still yearn for and am fired up by the rhythmic stomping of Okuni.

I was captivated by the footwork of Okuni—as depicted in Sawako Ariyoshi’s novel "Izumo no Okuni"—when I read it long ago. I was fifteen then, a member of a rural gymnastics team who didn't even know that "dance" existed as a form of stage performance. Perhaps the reason I later came to call our own work "Traveling Dance" was that the image of Okuni dancing as she journeyed had remained somewhere in my heart. In 2024, as I found myself wondering how many more new works I might create, I took on the challenge of physically embodying the steps of Okuni that had stayed with me for so long. At the dawn of the Edo period, Okuni staged performances under the banner of "Tenka-ichi" (Number One in the Land), raising her flags high. In an era of great restriction, she was a woman who lived life on her own terms, fully pursuing what she loved. Her legacy lives on, pulsing through the traditional culture that remains familiar to us today, continuing to captivate audiences. Times have changed; I began my own dance journey with the Twist and the Jitterbug, yet I yearn for tradition. Chasing the distant echo of the rhythmic footwork Okuni once performed, I continue to burn with passion for the art.

Naoko ITO