◆Biography ◆YAYOI's critics
◆Award ◆Major Original Work
◆Performance Credits ◆Stage Work 1992-2004
◆Teaching Experience

◆Education and Grants
◆Collaborations

Biography


Clad in austere black, YAYOI’s lithe figure unfurls a ribbon of movement on the small stage to the tune of Bolero: one moment she is hunched in the posture of age, the next rocking a child, shooting a gun, placing invisible flowers around her head with gestures as delicate as lace, as precise as time. Her face registers both history and the ineffable; the audience caught by awe at her lyrical transformations. YAYOI: one of the rare Japanese performers whose talent and creative spirit reach beyond the boundaries of their native land. Her contemporary productions, rooted in mime, dance, mask and drama, showcase a sculpted sense of physicality engaged in recreating traditional and modern narratives.

* YAYOI graduated from Toho Gakuen College of Performing Arts, co-founding the Mime Theatre Pierrot-kan in 1975 to popularize pantomime in Japan through modern works.

* YAYOI’s prolific career as a solo performer began in 1985. Her early one-woman shows included “A Woman”(1985) and “YAYOI DOJOJIi”(1988). In 1989, she became the first mime artist ever to receive the Ministry of Education Fellowship, and spent a year collaborating with artists in Germany and Canada.

*In 1990, she founded YAYOI Theatre Movement. Her extensive international performance credits include festivals in Italy, Germany, Spain, Holland, Slovakia, Hungary, Austria, Bulgaria, Poland, South Korea and Singapore as well as five North American tours. She has performed in 13 countries and 28 cities.

* YAYOI’s further shows include programs with prominent international artists. She has worked with Canadian photographer, Courtny Milne in “The Sacred Earth”(1995), with Japanese Jazz musician Terumasa Hino in “UZUME”(1996), with Artistic Director Halina Witek of the Theatre Het Klein from Holland in “BLAUBAAD”(1997) and “Divine Commedia”(1998), with the Fuchu-City Orchestra in “Borelo”(1997), and with Chinese opera singer Jin Youg Zie in  “Carmen”(2000). In July and August 2001, Yayoi presented “Snow's daughter” with the leading Bulgarian mime artist Nicky Sotirov in Japan and Bulgaria. For this work Yayoi was awarded the Annual Prize of Bulgarian Actors for Experimental and Avant-garde Performance Art.

*YAYOI first visited Vancouver to perform at the Japanese Pavilion during Expo’86. Since then, she has returned to participate in numerous summer Fringe Festivals. In August 2001 she and Tokyo dance troop “RAKUDO” presented  “A Human Nature” to three western Canadian Fringe audiences. In summer 2002 she brought a company of nine from Tokyo to perform the original work “Wind’s Traveler” at Fringe Festivals in Winnipeg, Swift Current, Saskatoon and Edmonton.  Since becoming a permanent resident of Vancouver in the fall of 2002, YAYOI has continued to stun audiences with her performances and mask carvings, infusing an ancient art with the stark and supple imagination of the millennium.


YAYOI's critics say


“A beautiful, evocative piece...”(Minnesota Star Tribune)

“A fascinating and successful approach to communication through mime and body language. Her face and body are exquisite in their expressiveness.”(The Gazette Montreal)

“Graceful and unequivocal, an emotionally subtle and visually stunning manner”
(The Edmonton Sun)

  “What amazing pleasure dwells in the theatre of Yayoi Hirano!…a glittering jewel of contemporary performance...An extraordinary experience.” (The Edmonton Journal)

“A very gifted Japanese soloist Yayoi Hirano...Her performance was a highly elaborate technical and acting masterpiece” (PRADA Slovakia)

“There are few women solo mime artists in the world. Among them, Yayoi Hirano is one of greatest...”(Chunchon International Mime Festival in South Korea)

“Yayoi will forever dispel the notion that the words “mime” and “artist” cannot be used in the same sentence.” (Banana Magazine Summer 2001)


Award

　
2002

Experimental and a Vanguard Art Award from Annual Prize of the Union of Bulgarian
Actors for “The Daughter of the Snow”


Major Original Work

 　 　

*  Yayoi Dojoji

*  Earth celebration  

*  Mask

*  Divine Commedia

*  UZUME

*  Scene Z

*  Bolero

*  KUROZUKA


Performance Credits

　
*  Four Seasons (A. Wesker)

* Dry Lips Oughta Move To Kapuskasing (T.Highway) 

* Happy Days (S. Beckett)

　


Stage Work 1992-2006
July 2006 Solo Show “ Snow Woman” and “Rond” at Roundhouse Community Centre Event hall 
Jan. 2006 Solo show “Four Seasons” in Grande Prairie AB for 2006 Grande Prairie Live Thetare
Oct. 2005 New work  “ Celebration of Life - Four Seasons” at the Scotiabank Dance Centre in Vancouver
June 2005 Solo show “UZUME”  at Red Strap Market  for  The Works Festival in Edmonton
May 2005 Participate in the Fashion show “ Exotic Eastern Elements” at St. Andrew’s Wesley Church

April

2005

 Solo show “ Snow Woman”  for Cherry Blossom Festival at  Sunrise Pavilion  

Jan.

2005

 Solo mime “Mime for the Kids” Children’s Festival in Whitehorse

June

2004

 Solo show “ Eating” at Camp Winnarainbow in California, USA

May

2004

 Solo show “ Rondo” at Roundhouse Theater for Explorer in Vancouver, Canada

May

2004

 Participated in the Fashion “ Paradise”  at St. Atlantis Nightclub in Vancouver, Canada

April

2004

 Participated in the Fashion “ Paradise”  at St. Andrew's - Wesley Church in Vancouver, Canada

April

2004

 Solo show “ Rondo” at UBC for Asian Library Open House in Vancouver, Canada

Mar.

2003

 Solo show “ Mask” at UBC Robson Square theatre in Vancouver, Canada
Feb.   2003 Solo show “Rondo” for Pre Olympic Cultural Celebration Event in Vancouver, Canada
Jan.  2003 Participated in “UBC Year of Japan”  Art Exhibition
Dec.-Nov. 2002 Mask exhibition at Centre A in Vancouver, Canada
Oct. 2002 Solo show “ Mask” at Centre A in Vancouver, Canada
Aug. 2002 Directed & performed ensemble show “Wind’s Traveler” at Edmonton Fringe Fes. Canada
Aug. 2002 Directed & performed ensemble show “Wind’s Traveler” at Saskatoon Fringe Fest. Canada
Aug. 2002 Directed & performed ensemble show “Wind’s Traveler” at Swift Current Fringe Fes. Canada
Aug. 2002 Directed & performed ensemble show “Wind’s Traveler” at Winnipeg Fringe Festival , Canada
Jun. 2002 Solo show “Mask” in Tokyo Japan at Umewaka-Noh-theatre 
Jan. 2002 "Wind's Traveler" ensemble movement performance in Tokyo, Japan
Nov. 2002 "A Human Nature" Collaboration work with RAKUDO in Tokyo, Japan
Sep. 2001 "A Human Nature" Collaboration work with RAKUDO at the Fringe Festival in Vancouver, Canada
Aug. 2001 "A Human Nature" Collaboration work with RAKUDO at the Fringe Festival in Edmonton and Victoria, Canada
Aug. 2001 Collaboration work with Nicky Sotirov "Pantdance" at Artcomplex 1927 Kyoto, and at Aoyama-enkei Theatre in Tokyo, Japan
Jul. 2001 Collaboration work with N. Sotirov "Daughter of Snow"at Military Club in Sofia Bulgaria
Jul. 2001 Collaboration work with RAKUDO dance company in Tokyo, Japan
Mar. 2001

Nana Bush in "Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing" at Theatre X in Tokyo, Japan
Feb. 2001 Solo show "Sumida-river" in Tokyo, Japan
Sep. 2000 "UZUME" at Ebina-City Culture Center in Japan
Jul. 2000 "Opera Gala - mime & tenor" with Jin Young Zhe in Tokyo, Japan
Jun. 2000 "Happy Days" by S. Beckett at Ginza Miyukikan-Theatre in Tokyo, Japan
Jul. 1999 "KUROZUKA" at T.Y.Harbour Theatre in Tokyo, Japan
Jun. 1999

"KUROZUKA" at Drama Theatre for European Culture Month 1999 in Plovdiv, Bulgaria
Nov. 1998 Solo show "UZUME" at UPS studio in Tokyo, Japan
Aug. 1998 Solo show "Mime Concert" in Point Roberts, WA, USA
Jun. 1998 Solo show "Bolero" at Singapore Festival of Arts, in Singapore
May 1998 Solo show "UZUME" at Chunchon International Mime Festival, in South Korea
May 1998 Solo show "Bolero" and workshop at House of Culture Sredezm, in Sofia, Bulgaria
May 1998

Solo show "Bolero at Muzeum Historyczne in Wroclaw, Poland
May 1998 Solo show "Bolero" at Theatre Het Klein in Eindhoven, Holland
Apr. 1998 Collaboration work "La Commedia Devin" with Hlina Witek at Theatre Het Klein, in Holland
Mar. 1998 Exhibition and performance of Masks in New York, USA
Nov. 1997 Solo show "Bolero" with full orchestra in Tokyo Japan
Apr. 1997 Collaboration work "Blaubarrd" with Halina Witek at Theatre Het Klein, in Holland
Oct. 1996 Solo show "UZUME" at Noh-theatre in Tokyo, Japan
Oct. 1996

Solo show "UZUME" for Japanese Culture Week at Ivan Bazov National Theater in Sofia
Oct. 1996 Solo show "UZUME" for Hungary 1100 Festival at Mu-theatre in Budapest, Hungary
Oct. 1996

Solo show "UZUME" for Millennium Festival at Theater Brett in Wien, Austria

Oct. 1996 Solo show "UZUME" at international mime festival in Blatislava, Slovakia
Sep. 1996

Solo show "UZUME" at Japanese Culture Center in Koln, Germany
Sep. 1996 Solo show "UZUME" at Hackesches Hof-Theatre in Berlin, Germany
Sep. 1996 Solo show "UZUME" at Theater Het Klein in Eindhoven, Holland
Oct. 1995 "Divine Commedia" at Sogetsu-theatre in Tokyo, Japan
June 1995 Collaboration work with Courtney Milne "The Sacred Earth" in Tokyo, Japan
Dec. 1994 "The Little Match Girl" in Tokyo, Japan
Aug. 1994

Solo show "Scene Z" at the Fringe Festival in Edmonton, Canada
Jul. 1994

Solo show "Scene Z" at the Fringe Festival in Toronto and Saskatoon, Canada
Jun. 1994 Solo show "Scene Z" at Minnesota Fringe Festival in Minneapolis, USA
Jun. 1994 Solo show "Scene Z" at the Fringe Festival in Montreal, Canada
May 1994

Solo show "Scene Z" at Off Festival in New York, USA
Feb. 1994 Solo show "Dojoji" at Kokubunnji-City Culture Center in Tokyo, Japan
Oct. 1993 Solo show "Dojoji" at the National Culture Festival in Tokyo, Japan
Aug. 1993 Solo show "Dojoji" at the Fringe Festival in Victoria, Canada
Aug. 1993 Solo show "Dojoji" at the Fringe Festival in Edmonton, Canada
Jul. 1993

Solo show "Dojoji" at the Fringe Festival in Winnipeg and Saskatoon, Canada
Aug. 1992 Solo show "Earth Celebration" at Carlton University in Ottawa/Vancouver/Victoria, Canada
Aug 1992 Solo show "Earth Celebration" at the Fringe Festival in Edmonton, Canada
Jul. 1992

Solo show "Earth Celebration" at the Fringe Festival in Winnipeg and Saskatoon, Canada
Jun. 1992 "Magical Imagination" at Sogetsu-theater in Tokyo, Japan
Feb. 1992 Solo show "Fire" at studio ams in Tokyo, Japan


Teaching Experience
1999 - 2002

Movement & Mime Teacher at United Performers Studio Academy 

1996 - 2000   

Movement & Mime Teacher at Tokyo Musical Academy
1994 - 2002

Artistic Director of Fuchu City Mime
1994 - 1998   

Movement & Mime Teacher at Theatre Himawari
1991 - 2002

Movement & Mime Teacher at Kinchan Theatre
1981 - 1994   

Movement & Mime Teacher at Tokyo Theatre Academy
1978 - 1989   

Co-teacher for Mime Theatre Pierrot-kan

1973 - 2002

Private Teacher for different theatre groups (Toho modern theatre, Theatre Fuji and others)


Education and Grants
1998

Gant from Japan Foundation for the world tour of solo show "Bolero"
1996

Grant from Japan Foundation for the European tour of solo show "Uzume"
1994

Jacques Lecoq (Movement Mime)
1994  

Grant from Japan Foundation for the Canadian tour of solo show "Scene Z"
1993

Grant from Ministry of Education for the show - "Dojoji"
1993

Kazuo Ohno (Butoh )
1993

Hideo Kanze (Noh- Theatre Dance)
1990

Jane Henderson (Clown) in Edmonton Canada
1990

Peter Baumgart (Ensemble Mime) in Berlin Germany
1989 - 1990

Gizela Peters (dance technique of Kurt Joorss) in Koln Germany
1989 - 1990

Milan Sladek (Mime) in Koln Germany
1989 - 1990

A Member of Japan Governmental Grant for Artists
1988

Rubi Shang, Betty Jones modern dance of summer class
1987

Yuriko Kimura (Graham technique) summer class
1986

Grant from Japan Foundation for the North American tour of Pierrot-kan
1986 - 1993

Takeko Sudo Japan Ancient Dance
1985

Classic Ballet from Michel Decamp
1982 - 1988

Classic Ballet from Michel Decamp
1972 - 1973

Hanayagi Japanese Kabuki dance
1972

Graduated from Toho Gakuen College of Performing Arts


Collaborations
2001

"Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing" with Jocelyne Montpetit
2001

"Daughter of Snow" with Bulgarian artist, Nicky Sotirov
2001

"A Human Nature" with dance troop, Rakudo
2000

"Happy Days" with Bulgarian Director, Dimiter Stefanov
2000

"Carmen" with Chinese Opera Tenor, Jin Young Zhe
1998

"Divine Commedia" with Halina Witek
1997

"Blaubaad" with Artistic Director of Theatre Het Klein in Holland, Halina Witek

1997

"Bolero" with Fuchu City Orchestra
1996

"UZUME" with Japanese Jazz Trumpet player, Terumasa Hino
1995

"The Sacred Earth" Canadian Photographer, Courtney Milne
1994

"Scene Z " with Artistic Director of Fools Company in NY, Martin Russell
1993

"Dojoji" with Taiko troop "Musashikokufu-taiko"
1992

"Magical Imagination" with Asuka Strings
1991

"Talking with Earth project" with scenographer Keiko Hoshino