Kiori Kawai (Japanese, b. 1978) is a dance performer/choreographer, interactive installation artist and an educator.

As a dance performance artist, she seeks to merge her body and coexist within nature and all environments. Started her career in New York, she has worked with Carman Moore/Skymusic Inc., Elaine Summers Dance and Film, Lincoln Center, Tribeca Performing Arts Center, Brooklyn Museum, Serraves Contemporary Museum (Portugal), Mesa Arts Center (AZ), Transformation Festival (Denmark/U.S), Megaron (Athens, Greece), touring nationally and internationally. She’s built up her own improvisatory movement vocabulary based on the techniques of meditation, Kinetic Awareness, Contact Improv, yoga, and various dance/movement trainings. This led her to designing interactive installations that include human body movement within kinetic sculptures.

Her approach to teaching Contact Improvisation and improvisational dance performances is based on developing awareness and exploring our conscious/unconscious choices through physical interaction between self and others. She has taught at New York University-Abu Dhabi (UAE), Alpine Dance Academy/Wave Festival (CO, USA), Tinkuy (Copenhagen, Denmark), Wrong Movement Studio (Athens, Greece), New England Dance Camp (New Hampshire, USA), Transformation Festival (U.S.A Denmark), Deakin University/Federation Square (Melbourne, Australia), Savannah Arts Academy/ Telfair Museums (GA, USA), Dancing Water (TX, USA), Azule Dance Theater (NY, USA), Rinyou Temple (Japan) and more.


Nomadic Dance Collective Programs

Apr 29 thru May 9 2023 | Inside & Outside Worlds / 10-Day Dance Workshop in Croatia

Feb 28 thru March 25 2022 | Sirince Mountain Performance Retreat in Turkey

April 4 thru April 29 2022 | Dance Arts Healing Residency in Georgia (Info coming soon)