From Tokyo to Brooklyn: A Jagged Journey
As the world has turned upside down, two-time McKnight Choreographer's Fellow Jinza Thayer is turning herself inside out. At the impressionable age of 6, Thayer emigrated from Tokyo, Japan to Brooklyn, NY—never to speak Japanese nor see her grandparents again. Thrown into a culture she did not understand, Thayer has since lived with a dual sense of identity: internally Japanese (like her mom) and externally a funky, who-knows-what Brooklynite.
Her Japanese-American identity inspired her to examine the impact that culture has on our bodies; how the swirling alchemy of physical and social forces influences the ways we move through the world. During From Tokyo to Brooklyn: A Jagged Journey, audience members will move through Northrop backstage spaces, from the Rehearsal Studio and beyond, among the dancers.
About Movement Architecture
Movement Architecture (MA) is a contemporary dance company whose mission is to create, educate, and heal through movement. MA convenes on a project-by-project basis under the artistic direction of Deborah Jinza Thayer. MA constructs environments as a way to probe one’s internal world, presenting dance alongside large abstract props and visual installations. Dancers navigate these altered metaphorical spaces in the same way that individuals navigate their own mental models. By rendering these models visible and concrete on stage, MA’s audience is immersed inside of a structured environment—part of a fabricated world, not just seated outside watching. Through this artistic method, MA inspires awareness of, and reflection on, how people physically interpret and express being in the world.
Movement Architecture is a fiscal year 2025 recipient of the Flexible Support Grant from the Metro Regional Arts Council. This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.
This project was also made possible through residencies held at Tofte Lake Center, MANCC (Maggie Allesee National Center for Choreography), and Rosy Simas Danse.
The University of Minnesota is not endorsing or sponsoring the activities conducted by the presenter(s) of this event on the University of Minnesota campus. The relationship between the University of Minnesota and the presenter(s) of this event is solely that of licensor and licensee.
