Disciplines for the Hidden Body

Butoh Dance technique, imagery and improvisation workshops.

Berlin | San Francisco

"...inkBoat is at the forefront of a new generation. Founder Shinichi Koga creates startlingly imaginative psychological journeys of humor and horror..."
~San Francisco Chronicle, January 29, 2006

Whether entangled in a rope, wobbling “headless” across the stage, or shyly partnering a giant bird, Shinichi Iova-Koga is intense. With butoh as part of his heritage, the Santa Clara, CA–born dancer/choreographer locates highly imagistic pieces in a shadowy universe in which the absurd coexists with the lyrical, and destruction and creation hold each other in balance. As much at home in Germany as in California, Iova-Koga uses the dancers’ physicality to make works that are as hilarious as they are haunting. On April 24, the mercurial and mesmerizing Iova-Koga and his nine-year inkBoat ensemble will premiere c(H)ord—a collaboration with the Seattle-based Degenerate Art Ensemble—at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco.
~Rita Felciano for DANCE MAGAZINE

"...delicately funny..."
~New York Times, January 9, 2006

"...a panoply of keen gestures, extreme facial expressions, and Harpo-style physical maneuvers, the dancers’ bodies sang out the physical equivalent of songs—broken, dissonant, and often hilarious."
~DANCE MAGAZINE, August 12, 2004

"...technical mastery and dark vein of humor runs through the performances..."
~Voice of Dance, August 10, 2004

"...moods and tempos freely incorporate elements of modern, jazz, and popular dance, all with captivating grace and precision."
~SF Bay Guardian, August 11, 2004

"Shinichi Koga's sympathetic character and the way he melds theatrically propelled narrative with deep psychic images crawls through your mind."
~San Francisco Examiner, November 30, 2001

full reviews