The open call for the competition ran from June 3 to June 30, 2026.
In the professional category, judging will focus on works that demonstrate a creative approach dedicated to exploring new possibilities for expression and originality, exhibit high overall proficiency in choreography, composition, direction, and technical skills, and show promise for future success. This category is open to those with performance experience, regardless of their base of operations or years of activity.
This year, five groups of artists will perform their works as finalists.
PROGRAM
2
Competition professional
- 01.31 [Sun] 15:00
@Yokohama Red Brick Warehouse No.1 3rd floor Hall
01.31 [Sun] 15:00
Endo Nanami
“Babiniku-kō”
Onishi Yuria
“Pulse”
Hashimoto Mana
“In the Distance”
Minuk Choi, Mijeong Kwon [The 47 Company]
“Salvation：Embrace”
Kuo Chueh-Kai [NonlyBody]
“Towards Equilibrium”
JURY
Okami Sae (Dance Critic, Professor of Kyoritsu Women’s University)
Kimura Eriko (Director, Hirosaki Museum of Contemporary Art)
Kuroda Ikuyo (Head of BATIK, Choreographer, Dancer)
Nagatsuka Keishi (Playwright, Director, Actor, Artistic Director of KAAT Kanagawa Arts Theatre)
Hamano Fumio (Senior Editor, Shinshokan Dance Magazine)
Samson Sylvain (Cultural attaché of the French Embassy)
Serge Laurent (Van Cleef & Arpels’ Director of Dance and Culture Program)
Laurent Barré (Head of Research and Choreographic Repertoires, Centre national de la danse [CN D], France)
Ono Shinji (Chief producer of Yokohama Arts Foundation)
Jury Prize（Eligibility: Professional）
Opportunity to perform at Performance by Former Prizewinner at Yokohama Dance Collection, and ¥400,000 prize (a grant to subsidize creative activities)
=Participants in both the [Professional] and [Under 25] categories are eligible for the following awards=
*The MASDANZA Prize, Studio Architanz Artist Support Prize, and Toyohashi Arts Theatre PLAT Prize will be judged by specialists from the respective organizations.
Prize of the French Embassy in Japan – Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels, for young choreographers Residency program in France
Residency program in France
With the support of Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels
Cooperation: Centre National de la Danse (CN D)
MASDANZA Prize
Right to participate in the Contests or perform in a Program in MASDANZA, The International Contemporary Dance Festival of the Canary Islands, Spain.
Studio Architanz Artist Support Prize
We will decide upon consultation regarding the provision of the studio use (creation support, opportunity for work-in-progress, holding workshops) and free attendance to classes.
Toyohashi Arts Theatre PLAT Prize
Provide the opportunity for residency at Toyohashi Arts Theatre PLAT
Endo Nanami
Born in Tokyo in 1997. Graduated from the Department of Body Expression and Cinematic Arts, College of Contemporary Psychology, Rikkyo University. Focusing on the choreographed movements of the body in everyday life, she has recently been actively creating performances that incorporate cooking and eating. Alongside her artistic practice, she is involved in the planning and production of performing arts. Recipient of the ST Spot “Lab 20#24” Lab Award. Participant in the 11th session of the DANCE BOX Domestic Dance Study Program in Kobe.
Hayashi Hiroki
Onishi Yuria
Studied jazz dance at a young age and encountered contemporary dance while attending Nihon University College of Art. In 2024, she founded SR/Yuria Onishi. Focusing on the spatial boundaries between audience and performers, she uses repetition and variation as starting points to continually restage her work, viewing the evolution of her pieces as an integral part of the creative process. Selected as a finalist at the Yokohama Dance Collection 2023 Competition II and the Kanagawa Performing Arts Award 2025.
Tadayuki-Minamoto
Hashimoto Mana
Born in Kanagawa in 2000. Graduated from the Department of Dance, College of Performing Arts, National Taiwan University of the Arts. Currently enrolled in the Graduate School of Fine Arts, Department of Intermedia Art, Tokyo University of the Arts. Her practice centers on understanding the self through others, and she primarily creates performance pieces through contemporary dance. She is a Support Artist at Steep Slope Studio, a registered artist with the Public Hall Contemporary Dance Revitalization Project, and a recipient of the 8th, 9th, and 10th Kuma Foundation scholarships.
Minuk Choi, Mijeong Kwon [The 47 Company]
NUA directors Min-uk Choi and Mi-jeong Kwon merge physical theater with Korean breath to explore human extremes through vivid stage imagery.
*The company name has been changed from “NUA” to “The 47 Company”.
Kuo Chueh-Kai
Kuo Chueh-Kai is a contemporary dance choreographer and performer from Taiwan. His practice explores the dialogue between the body and objects — how physical experience can reshape perception and challenge the boundaries of habit. Often questioning social norms and what people take for granted, his movement language merges contemporary dance with martial arts, acrobatics, and tricking to create a raw yet poetic expression of freedom and constraint.