Akiko Kitamura

Akiko Kitamura was born in 1970 in Tokyo. She learned ballet, jazz and street dance in her youth, before studying dance theory at Waseda University. She began a professional career as a choreographer in show business while still in her teens and has choreographed many pieces for commercial films, fashion shows and plays. She has taught since 2001 in the Faculty of Arts at Shinshu University, Nagano, as an Associate Professor. In 2007 she created ‘Blind Trip’ for the SKIN project for ACE dance and music which toured to great acclaim to twenty UK venues. Akiko continues to choreograph, act and direct extensively.