Natyanjali Australia takes great pride in presenting Masako Ono in Sydney at the Bankstown Town Hall on Saturday 1 May 2010. Masako presents a repertoire inspired by two distinctly unique traditions – Japanese and Indian dancing and martial arts. A rare collaboration brought to Sydney for the first time – an event not to be missed!

 A renowned choreographer and performer, Masako has performed extensively around the world. She was selected as one of the 100 most respected Japanese in the world by Newsweek Japan in 2008 and was featured in the NHK BS1 television series ‘First Japanese’ in 2007.

Masako’s choreography is inspired by Odissi, a Traditional Indian dance style and other contemporary dance forms including martial arts forms from Japan and India.  She has performed and presented lecture demonstrations and workshops in the USA, Canada, Italy, France, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia and Sri Lanka. She has had the unique privilege of performing for the former Prime Ministers of Japan, Mr Junichiro Koizumi and Mr Shinzo Abe.

Masako has learnt various dance forms. She commenced her initial training under Masako Yokoi, a dance graduate from the Martha Graham Dance School, USA. She then pursued training in Western Classical Ballet at Matsuyama Ballet, Tokyo and jazz and hip hop at the K-Broadway Dance Centre, Tokyo. 

Deeply fascinated by Odissi, Masako moved to India to learn from stalwarts of the dance form. She joined Nrityagram, a dance village in India and received training in Odissi, Yoga, Kalaripayattu (an Indian martial arts form) and Mayurbhanj Chhau. She has participated in workshops held in Nrityagram by Wolfgang Theatre, Paul Taylor 2 Company, The Expressions and Robert Williams.

In her Sydney recital, she will perform a combination of traditional Odissi items and contemporary pieces inspired by Japanese and Indian dancing and martial arts.

In this performance, Natyanjali Australia also present beautiful and talented young dancers from Sydney performing to the popular tunes of legendary Indian Musician Mrs. M.L. Vasanthakumari in the segment ‘Aadal Kaaneero’.