Yumi Kurosawa
with special guest Virgil Gadson
Yumi Kurosawa joins forces with hip-hop dancer Virgil Gadson for a new program that furthers her mission of creating genre-defying art that unites diverse traditions of cultural expression. Gadson’s choreography brings a poetic and athletic exuberance to Kurosawa’s enchanting and ethereal original compositions, and her arrangement of classical works are enhanced and illuminated by Gadson’s playful and balletic street dance form.
An award-winning koto star from a young age, Yumi Kurosawa is one of today's most exciting soloists on Japan's national instrument. Her solo repertoire includes classical Japanese compositions, as well as her own innovative and enchanting original works. Born in Morioka, Japan, Kurosawa began her koto studies when she was three, going on to win first prize at the National Japanese Koto Competition for students in 1989 and 1992. Since relocating to the US, she has played on such stages as Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, the Apollo Theater, and the Blue Note.
Over the years, Virgil "Lil O" Gadson has appeared in NFL commercials, Season Eight of So You Think You Can Dance (top 30), MTV‘s Americas Best Dance Crew, music videos, and has choreographed musicals. He was nominated for a Fred Astaire Award for his performance in the Broadway show “After Midnight”. He is an avid student and instructor of Hip-Hop dance and he thoroughly incorporates himself into all aspects of the art form.
This program is also available with tabla: see Yumi’s collaboration with Anubrata Chatterjee for more details.
Hi-res download available here
Hi-res download available here