Yuriko (dancer)
Encyclopedia
Yuriko Kikuchi known to audiences by her stage name
Yuriko, is an American dancer and choreographer. She is best known for her work with the Martha Graham
Dance Company.
She was born in San Jose, California, but moved to Japan at age 3, remaining there until her graduation from high school.http://www.guidelive.com/sharedcontent/dws/ent/performingarts/stories/DN-smudance_1106gl.ART.State.Edition1.4235389.html From 1941 to 1943 she was interned
along with other Japanese American
s at the Gila River War Relocation Center
in Arizona
, where she taught dance.http://www.guidelive.com/sharedcontent/dws/ent/performingarts/stories/DN-smudance_1106gl.ART.State.Edition1.4235389.html She was released in September 1943, whereupon she immediately moved to New York City
.http://www.guidelive.com/sharedcontent/dws/ent/performingarts/stories/DN-smudance_1106gl.ART.State.Edition1.4235389.html
She began studying with Martha Graham in 1944 and continued with the company for the next 50 years. She danced in the first production of Graham's masterpiece, Clytemnestra, as well as in Appalachian Spring
, Cave of the Heart, and Dark Meadow. She has also reconstructed a number of Graham's dances.
In addition to her work in modern dance
, Yuriko performed on Broadway
in the first performances of The King and I
(1951-54) and The Flower Drum Song
(1958-60). She has also danced and acted on television and in motion pictures. She formed her own modern dance company in 1967, which remained active until 1973. She has also danced to works by Halim El-Dabh
and Eugene Lester.
Yuriko married in 1946 and had two children. She lives in Manhattan
.
in choreography. In 1991, she won a Bessie Award
. Yuriko was awarded an honorary doctorate from the Boston Conservatory
in 2006.
Stage name
A stage name, also called a showbiz name or screen name, is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers such as actors, wrestlers, comedians, and musicians.-Motivation to use a stage name:...
Yuriko, is an American dancer and choreographer. She is best known for her work with the Martha Graham
Martha Graham
Martha Graham was an American modern dancer and choreographer whose influence on dance has been compared with the influence Picasso had on modern visual arts, Stravinsky had on music, or Frank Lloyd Wright had on architecture.She danced and choreographed for over seventy years...
Dance Company.
She was born in San Jose, California, but moved to Japan at age 3, remaining there until her graduation from high school.http://www.guidelive.com/sharedcontent/dws/ent/performingarts/stories/DN-smudance_1106gl.ART.State.Edition1.4235389.html From 1941 to 1943 she was interned
Japanese American internment
Japanese-American internment was the relocation and internment by the United States government in 1942 of approximately 110,000 Japanese Americans and Japanese who lived along the Pacific coast of the United States to camps called "War Relocation Camps," in the wake of Imperial Japan's attack on...
along with other Japanese American
Japanese American
are American people of Japanese heritage. Japanese Americans have historically been among the three largest Asian American communities, but in recent decades have become the sixth largest group at roughly 1,204,205, including those of mixed-race or mixed-ethnicity...
s at the Gila River War Relocation Center
Gila River War Relocation Center
The Gila River War Relocation Center was an internment camp built by the War Relocation Authority for internment of Japanese Americans during the Second World War. It was located about southeast of Phoenix, Arizona....
in Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
, where she taught dance.http://www.guidelive.com/sharedcontent/dws/ent/performingarts/stories/DN-smudance_1106gl.ART.State.Edition1.4235389.html She was released in September 1943, whereupon she immediately moved to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.http://www.guidelive.com/sharedcontent/dws/ent/performingarts/stories/DN-smudance_1106gl.ART.State.Edition1.4235389.html
She began studying with Martha Graham in 1944 and continued with the company for the next 50 years. She danced in the first production of Graham's masterpiece, Clytemnestra, as well as in Appalachian Spring
Appalachian Spring
Appalachian Spring is a modern score composed by Aaron Copland that premiered in 1944 and has achieved widespread and enduring popularity as an orchestral suite...
, Cave of the Heart, and Dark Meadow. She has also reconstructed a number of Graham's dances.
In addition to her work in modern dance
Modern dance
Modern dance is a dance form developed in the early 20th century. Although the term Modern dance has also been applied to a category of 20th Century ballroom dances, Modern dance as a term usually refers to 20th century concert dance.-Intro:...
, Yuriko performed on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
in the first performances of The King and I
The King and I
The King and I is a stage musical, the fifth by the team of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. The work is based on the 1944 novel Anna and the King of Siam by Margaret Landon and derives from the memoirs of Anna Leonowens, who became governess to the children of King Mongkut of Siam in...
(1951-54) and The Flower Drum Song
The Flower Drum Song
The Flower Drum Song is a novel by Chinese-American author C. Y. Lee, first published in 1957. The novel tells the story of Chinese immigrants in San Francisco, and was a bestseller in its time. It is the basis of 1958 musical Flower Drum Song....
(1958-60). She has also danced and acted on television and in motion pictures. She formed her own modern dance company in 1967, which remained active until 1973. She has also danced to works by Halim El-Dabh
Halim El-Dabh
Halim Abdul Messieh El-Dabh is an Egyptian-born American composer, performer, ethnomusicologist, and educator, who has had a career spanning six decades...
and Eugene Lester.
Yuriko married in 1946 and had two children. She lives in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
.
Awards
In 1967, she was awarded a Guggenheim FellowshipGuggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowships are American grants that have been awarded annually since 1925 by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts." Each year, the foundation makes...
in choreography. In 1991, she won a Bessie Award
Bessie Awards
The New York Dance and Performance Awards, informally known as the Bessie Awards in honor of Bessie Schonberg, are awarded annually for innovative achievement in dance and related performances, particularly so-called "downtown" performances...
. Yuriko was awarded an honorary doctorate from the Boston Conservatory
Boston Conservatory
The Boston Conservatory is a performing arts conservatory located in the Fenway-Kenmore region of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It grants undergraduate and graduate degrees in music, dance and musical theater...
in 2006.
Films
- 1956 - The King and I
- 1957 - A Dancer's World
- 1960 - Yuriko: Creation of a Dance