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@CPR | PLANTING SEEDS OF PEACE IN AMERICA
CRS (Center for Remembering & Sharing) presents @CPR | PLANTING SEEDS OF PEACE IN AMERICA, a dance and film event marking the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This commemorative performance will take place on September 21, 2025, at 7 pm at CPR – Center for Performance Research in Brooklyn, NY, supported by the @CPR Performance Series as part of CPR – Center for Performance Research’s Subsidized Space Rental Program. Tickets are $20 and are available via Eventbrite.
This powerful program features rare U.S. performances by Japanese choreographer and dancer Chizuko Kotani, a second-generation atomic bomb survivor, her Kansai, Japan-based ensemble P Company, and butoh master Nobuo Harada, known for bridging humor and gravity in his striking solo work. NYC-based butoh artist Azumi Oe will improvise with musicians Shoko Nagai (Moog) and Satoshi Takeishi (prepared hammer dulcimer). The evening also includes a screening of Chris Fiore’s short film “A Few Laughed.”
This year, as Hiroshima marks 80 years since the bombing and the Hibakusha organization is honored with the Nobel Peace Prize, we invite you to join in a deep reflection on peace and the horrors of war through the power of movement and memory. The artists’ decades-long commitment to cross-cultural healing through art takes on new urgency in today’s global climate. This program is made possible, in part, by a production grant from CRS (Center for Remembering & Sharing).
VENUE:
CPR – Center for Performance Research
361 Manhattan Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11211
Highlights from the program include:
”I Will Become a Dove” (Chizuko Kotani solo)
With skin that has peeled off and hung down as wings, I overcome suffering and anger, and I become a dove, soaring into the sky.
“Life” (P Company group dance)
An evocation of people fleeing in fear, seeking help, this dance embodies the horror and anger of the atomic bomb.
“The Red River of Ether” (Nobuho Harada solo)
One of Nobuho Harada’s signature pieces, this work, connecting life and death, encapsulates the greatest intensity within the smallest movement.
Trio Impromptu (Azumi Oe with Shoko Nagai and Satoshi Takeishi)
“A Few Laughed” (Chris Fiore, 2019, running time 05:37)
This short film is an experimental short film that honors the 23 Japanese sailors and fishermen irradiated by the unannounced 1954 Castle Bravo hydrogen bomb test. The film was created for the Lucky Dragon 5 event at Tokyo’s Daigo Fukuryu Maru Exhibition Hall, honoring the Japanese sailors and fishermen, and features an improvised dance performance by Takemi Kitamura, with costume by Nobuko Tsuruta.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Chizuko Kotani is a Japanese choreographer, dancer, and founder of P Company. As the daughter of atomic bomb survivors, she has long carried the emotional legacy of war. Her activism with the “Chernobyl Hibakusha Support Kansai” group helped transform her trauma into purpose. Now, she shares stories of survival and hope through contemporary dance works that call for peace and remembrance.
Chizuko Kotani began her dance training in the 1970s under Miyoko Fujiwara, whose powerful final performances while hospitalized left a lasting impression on her. At just 21, Chizuko took over the studio following Fujiwara’s passing and went on to found her own company, Dance Core Possible, in 1981. She also studied Martha Graham technique with the late Akiko Kanda, a trailblazer who brought Graham’s radical physical language back to Japan after dancing as one of Graham’s principal performers in New York. Chizuko’s work carries forward this lineage, grounded in the Graham technique but transformed through her own cultural and political experiences.
A native of Hiroshima, Chizuko weaves personal and historical memory into her choreography, often tackling themes such as war, nuclear energy, and the fragility of life. Like her mentor Kanda, who incorporated Japanese forms such as Noh and questioned gender roles through dance, Chizuko uses the stage as a space for social reflection. Her works fuse bodily precision with emotional depth and existential inquiry, reflecting her belief that dance is not just performance but a way of knowing, resisting, and ultimately remembering.
Nobuo Harada is a Fukuoka-based butoh master and founder of Seiryusha (1980). A successor in the lineage of Kazuo Ohno and Akira Kasai, Harada’s performances blend profound physicality with philosophical playfulness, navigating the border between art and anti-art. He has toured widely in Japan and abroad, bringing butoh’s quiet power to audiences across cultures. Born in Fukuoka in 1949, he studied martial arts until seeing Akira Kasai and Kazuo Ohno perform “The Bottom of the Hill” in 1972, which led him to study under Kasaki for seven years.
Founded in 2004 by Chizuko Kotani, Kansai-based P Company features a diverse group of dancers drawn from Dance Core Possible and trained in styles ranging from ballet to improvisation. The company plays a key role in the WiSP Project, using performance as a vehicle for peace education and intercultural exchange. Last year, P Company and WiSP presented Chizuko’s “The Dropping of the Atomic Bomb” at Art Complex Hiroshima.
Azumi Oe is a New York-based butoh dancer and choreographer known for her mesmerizing, provocative, and meticulous performances. A former member of Vangeline Theater and principal dancer under butoh master Katsura Kan, she now develops experimental solo and collaborative projects worldwide. She was a 2023 artist-in-residence at Johns Hopkins PEABODY Institute and a 2024 NYFA/NYSCA Fellow in Choreography. www.azumioe.com
Shoko Nagai is a pianist, accordionist, and composer whose work spans jazz, experimental, and global traditions. Trained in Japan on Yamaha’s electronic organ before studying at Berklee College of Music, she has developed a distinctive voice on prepared piano, accordion, and keyboards, often influenced by the minimalist sound of Toru Takemitsu. She performs Klezmer, Balkan, and improvised music with equal command, and also composes scores for film and performance. Whether collaborating with renowned musicians or leading her own projects, Nagai is known for her intense focus and virtuosity, creating performances that mesmerize audiences. shokonagai.net
Satoshi Takeishi is a drummer, percussionist, and arranger whose career bridges jazz, classical, world, and experimental music. A Berklee College of Music graduate, he lived in Colombia for four years, performing with the Bogotá Symphony and exploring Latin traditions before moving to New York in 1991. His collaborations include work with Ray Barretto, Eliane Elias, Anthony Braxton, and Toshiko Akiyoshi, among many others. Blending South American, Middle Eastern, and contemporary influences, Takeishi brings a deep sensitivity to rhythm and texture. He continues to expand his artistry through improvisation and cross-cultural collaborations with musicians and composers worldwide.
Chris Fiore is a filmmaker and artist whose documentary work has earned awards, including the 2024 Culver City Film Festival Audience Award and the 2025 Berlin Indie Film Festival Award for Best Artist Film. His short A Few Laughed honors the 23 Japanese fishermen exposed to fallout from the 1954 Castle Bravo hydrogen bomb test near the Bikini Islands. www.chrisfiore.com
CRS (Center for Remembering & Sharing) is a healing and cultural arts organization dedicated to exploring the intersection of spirituality, creativity, and community. CRS has presented peace-focused performances, exhibitions, and workshops for over 20 years in New York City and internationally.
CPR – Center for Performance Research is dedicated to supporting artists in the development of new work in contemporary dance and performance. CPR focuses its activities in three key areas: creative and professional development support; providing affordable space for artists; and public programming. Curated and open-call programs focus on providing artists with rehearsal, residency, and performance support, which generates time and space for research and dialogue, and creates opportunities to share work in a variety of contexts. CPR’s subsidized space rental program helps to ensure that artists can access CPR’s flexible studios and performance space at affordable rates to create and share their work. By presenting work to the public through performances, work-in-progress showings, salon-style discussions, exhibitions, and festivals, CPR exposes local audiences and its community to contemporary artistic practice and process.