Yoshito Sakuraba

Choreographer

Yoshito Sakuraba is founding artistic director of Abarukas and an award-winning choreographer. His work was seen in Germany, Poland, Italy, Spain, Israel, Mexico, and the U.S. He won the International Choreographic Competition at NW Dance Project and Choreographic Shindig at Whim W'Him in the U.S. He was awarded for Best Choreography Award in Italy at FINI Dance Festival and Audience Award at Masdanza International Contemporary Dance Festival in Spain. He's commissioned to create a work from PCDC, NW Dance Project's Launch, Whim W'Him, Ballet Arkansas, Ballet Des Moines II, Nimbus Dance, LITVAKdance, Graham II, Alvin Ailey/Fordham BFA, North Carolina School of the Arts, Peabody at Johns Hopkins University, Muhlenberg College, Marymount Manhattan College, Dance Lab NY, HSPVA, GHAA, IAA, FINI Dance Festival, Making Moves Dance Festival, Dance Gallery Festival/Level Up, Open Dance Festival, Jamaica Performing Arts Center, Interlochen Center for the Arts, and more. Broadway Dance World describes his work as, “I witnessed a true work of art...Mr. Sakuraba's brilliant mind for choreography has captivated me... extreme creativity, fine detail, and high level dancing."

Yoshito Sakuraba founded Abarukas in the fall of 2012, and the Company performed at BAM Fisher, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Jacob’s Pillow Inside/Out Series in 2014 and 2016, Palm Desert Choreography Festival, Pan Asian Dance Festival, DanceNow at Joe's Pub, Dance Gallery Festival/Level Up (Commission), Making Moves Dance Festival (Commission), LaMama Moves Dance Festival, WestFest, APAP Showcase at Peridance as well as a residency and performance at Kaatsbaan International Dance Center. As a teaching artist, he has taught at Amsterdam Dance Centre (Netherlands), DAF Dance Arts Faculty (Italy), The Playground (NYC), Dance Theater of Harlem (NYC), Sam Houston University, Sacred Heart University, Purdue University, and more. He currently teaches at Peridance, GIBNEY, and the Martha Graham School in NYC. He will premiere a new work with a London-based composer, commissioned from Rabbit Island Foundation & Rozsa Center for the Performing Arts Center in the U.S. in fall 2020.

His new creation for Today is Tomorrow 2021 will be his first work for the Bayerisches Staatsballet. 

(Status: August 2020)