User:Petewarrior/sandbox/MIKIKO

Biography
Mikiko was born in Tokyo, Japan. The youngest of three sisters, her family moved to Hiroshima when she was two years old due to her father's job transfer. Her home in Hiroshima was located along the Peace Boulevard where the Hiroshima Flower Festival was held every year in May, and she watched the process of building the framework of the stage with great interest. His father worked at an advertising agency, so he was able to see live performances and behind the scenes. The first time he learned about the profession of choreographer was when he was shown the live performance of Yomei Club backstage. He said that the origin of his job as a stage designer may have been in his childhood. As a member of the baton club at Yasuda Girl's Junior High School, she participated in the Flower Festival stage and parade and learned the joy of dancing in front of people, and started hip-hop dancing in high school.

In 1996, at the age of 19, Mikiko began teaching dance based on her experience in ballet and street dance, and in 1999, at the age of 21, while still in college, she became one of the first instructors for Shinhiroshima Telecasting to open Actors School Hiroshima in partnership with the Amuse talent agency. Her first students included the future members of Perfume, who was then in the fifth grade of elementary school. Mikiko has choreographed almost all of their songs (except for a brief time in their early career with Amuse), both as part of choreography lessons at the school and after Perfume left for Tokyo. The school holds two recitals every year, one in the spring and one in the fall, and she created choreography for about 50 songs a year for the school students, which helped them develop their skills, including composition.

In 2000, she became a back-up dancer for MAX and also formed the dance group VAX. In 2003, the members of Perfume, then in their third year of junior high school, signed a management contract with Amuse and the three of them moved to Tokyo together.

In 2005, at the age of 28, Mikiko also signed a management contract with Amuse and began her career as a full-fledged director, moving to Tokyo to focus on "creating masterpieces". Mikiko wrote, directed, and choreographed the play "DRESS CODE". Osato instructed her to move to New York to become a director and improve her sensibility. While in the United States, she continued teaching dance to Perfume and others via video messaging. By the time she returned to Japan in 2008, Pertume had already had their breakthrough with "Polyrhythm".

After returning to Japan, Mikiko began choreographing for Amuse artists, and also formed Elevenplay in 2009. Since the formation of Sakura Gakuin in 2010, she has choreographed all the songs for the group and its sub-units, including Babymetal. In 2012, she choreographed the fashion show "CanColle!" organized by the fashion magazines CanCam and AneCan.

In 2014, Elevenplay and Hatsune Miku performed at the opening of Lady Gaga's concert. Mikiko also choreographed and directed an advertising video for Isetan that won the Good Design Award.

In 2015, Perfume's performance at the South by Southwest (SXSW) festival won the Prime Minister's Award/ACC Grand Prix in the interactive category of the ACC CM Festival. MIKIKO created the storyboard and instructed Daito Manabe and others on lighting and camera work.

In 2016, Mikiko was in charge of the artistic part of the Olympic flag handover ceremony at the closing ceremony of the Rio Olympics. In the same year, she choreographed the "Koi" dance for the ending of the Tokyo Broadcasting System drama The Full-Time Wife Escapist, which received a great response. She also choreographed the music video for "Cold Stares" by Nosaj Thing, which received the Award of Distinction at the Austrian Prix Ars Electronica awards in the Computer Animation/Film/VFX category.

In 2017, the Digital Media Association of Japan awarded Mikiko with the Jury's Special Award during the AMD Award '16. She was also selected as one of Vogue Japan's "Women of The Year" and was appointed to the overall planning team of the 2020 Summer Olympics opening and closing ceremonies.

経歴
東京都生まれ. 三人姉妹の末っ子で2歳のとき、父親の転勤で広島市へ引っ越す. 広島の自宅は毎年5月にひろしまフラワーフェスティバルが開催される平和大通り（100m道路）沿いにあり 、ステージの骨組みが出来ていく過程を興味深く眺めていた. 父親が広告代理店に勤務していたため、ライブや舞台裏を見ることができた. 振付師という職業を知ったのも、米米CLUBのライブをバックステージで見せてもらったことが切っ掛けという. 舞台を作る仕事の原点は子ども時代にあるのかもと話した. 安田女子中学校のバトン部の一員としてフラワーフェスティバルの舞台やパレードに出て、人前で踊る楽しさを覚え、高校に入ってヒップホップダンスを始めた.

1996年、19歳からバレエとストリートダンスの経験を元にダンス指導を開始する. 1999年、大学在学中の21歳のとき、テレビ新広島がアミューズと提携してアクターズスクール広島を開校するための最初の講師陣の一人となった. 一期生には当時小学校5年生だった（のちの）Perfumeもいた. スクール時代の振り付けレッスンか、Perfumeが東京に出て以降も、（アミューズでの初期の活動の一時点を除いて）楽曲ほぼすべてで振り付けを担当している. スクールの発表会は年に春と秋の2回あり、年間約50曲の振付をスクール生のために作成し、構成を含めたスキルが鍛えられた.

2000年にMAXのバックダンサーとなり 、同時期にダンスグループVAXを結成した. 広島と東京の間を週1回は往復する生活を5年間ほど送る. 2003年、当時中学3年生のPerfumeがアミューズとマネジメント契約を結び、3人だけで上京.

2005年、28歳のときMIKIKOもアミューズとマネジメント契約を結び、本格的に演出家としての活動を開始 、「つくる仕事」に専念するため東京に転居. この直接のきっかけは同社会長の大里洋吉が舞台「DRESS CODE」を見たこと. MIKIKOはその作・演出・振り付けを手掛けた. 大里は演出家になること、感性を磨くため米国ニューヨークに転居することを指示. 2006年から二年間米国留学. 在米中もビデオレターを用いてPerfumeらにダンスを指導した. 2008年帰国しPerfumeがブレイクしたことを知る.

帰国後、アミューズ所属のアーティストを中心に振り付けを提供. 2009年、ELEVENPLAYを立ち上げ. この頃からテレビCMの振り付けやコンサート演出を大量に手掛けるようになる. 2010年、さくら学院の結成以降、同グループとその派生ユニット（BABYMETAL、科学究明機構ロヂカ?など）の楽曲すべてを振り付け. 2012年、蛯原友里、押切もえ、安座間美優、山本美月らモデル17人が踊るファッションショー「Canコレ！」の振り付けを担当.

2014年、ELEVENPLAYが初音ミクと共にレディー・ガガのコンサート前座を務める. MIKIKOが振り付け・演出した 伊勢丹の宣伝動画 がグッドデザイン賞を受ける. 2015年、技術と芸術の祭典「SXSW」におけるPerfumeの 公演 が「ACC CM FESTIVAL」インタラクティブ部門の総理大臣賞/ACCグランプリを受賞. MIKIKOは絵コンテを作り、真鍋大度らに照明やカメラワークを指示した.

2016年、リオ五輪閉会式における、五輪旗引き継ぎ式 の芸術パートを担当. 同年、テレビドラマ『逃げるは恥だが役に立つ』エンディングの振り付け（恋ダンス）を担当、大きな反響を得る. ミュージックビデオ「Cold Stares」がオーストリアの芸術賞「Prix Ars Electronica」(Computer Animation/Film/VFX部門）のAward of Distinctionを受ける . 2017年、デジタルメディア協会はMIKIKOに、AMD Award '16 審査員特別賞（Jury's special award）を授与  . 同年、『VOGUE JAPAN Women of the year 2017』を受賞、東京2020 開会式・閉会式 4式典総合プランニングチームに就任.

Style
Mikiko's main objective is to show the beauty of the dancer's body and personality, which was inspired by the differences in body types and cultures she witness while in the United States. She uses everyday gestures in her choreography and also excels at using advanced technology such as projectors, drones, LEDs, and moving semi-transparent screens. The choreographer who has influenced her the most is Bob Fosse, who has an "aesthetic of subtraction".

On choreographing the dance for heavy metal, scriptwriter and producer Chiaki J. Konaka remarked that Mikiko's influences included the signature blast beats and guitar solos of the genre. For example, the riding dance in the intro of Babymetal's "Road of Resistance" is a visualization of the Gladstone blast beat technique, and the dance in general is also synchronized with the guitar solos.

The goal of the choreography in the "Koi" dance was to describe the sound of the instruments and the lyrics, and to make the audience feel different aspects of the song than they would without the choreography. Gen Hoshino described the choreography as "magnifying the charm of the song and its ability to communicate to the listener many times over.

振り付けや演出の特徴
目標は踊り手の身体や個性を美しく見せること. 米国で体型や文化の差を確認したことが転機となった. 例えば、ヒップホップのような外来のダンスをそのまま取り入れず、かつ着物のような外見ではなく、細やかさのような日本人の内面を表現することを一層重視する. MIKIKOは日常の仕草を振り付けに多用し 、プロジェクターやドローン、LED、移動式半透過スクリーンなど先端技術を用いた演出も得意とする. 最も影響を受けた振付師は「引き算の美学」を感じるボブ・フォッシーと話した.

脚本家で映像、音楽制作を手掛ける小中千昭は、振り付けの特徴の一部を次のように指摘した.


 * 振り付け対象が広範：テクノやJ-POPはもちろん、ヘヴィメタルも対象とする. しかも後者ではブラストビートやギターソロまで視覚化した. 「グラッドストーンというものがある. ブラストビートを叩く上では必須な技術なのだが、『Road of Resistance』イントロの騎乗ダンスはその視覚化」（公式動画 の01:25） . 「ギター・ソロにダンスがついている事が判る.

恋ダンスにおける振り付けの目標は、楽器の音や歌詞を解説し、振り付けがない場合と異なる面を観客に感じさせることだった. 星野源は振り付けを「楽曲の持つ魅力とリスナーへの伝達力を何倍にも大きくしてくれる」と評した.