Haruko Crow Nishimura has artistic-directed Seattle’s Degenerate Art Ensemble along with music director Joshua Kohl since its formation in 1999 which is her primary creative outlet. The company creates performance work infused with the energy of live music and driven by her own style of visceral movement theater and dance. The group’s work has been featured in 10 countries presenting large scale experimental dance and theater projects, concerts, site-transforming spectacles and ongoing public experimentation. The group was the subject of a major exhibition at the Frye Art Museum in 2011, was commissioned by director Robert Wilson to interpret his work Einstein on the Beach and undertook a massive site specific collaboration with Olson Kundig Architects in 2012 and will collaborate with the Kronos Quartet in 2013. DAE directors Nishimura and Kohl have been selected to be featured in the Museum of History and Industry’s Center for Innovation in a video featuring 12 Northwest innovators including Jeff Bezos, Dale Chihuly and others. In addition to her work with DAE, Haruko is constantly collaborating with both local and international artists to push the boundaries of her medium dancing in the street, creating rituals for strangers in cemeteries and performing and directing small experimental ensembles.