Akiko: Portrait of a Dancer
AKIKO ใใใใณใตใผใฎ่ๅ
The story
โI have three tasks in my life: to dance, to teach dance, and to create dance,โ says the pioneering Japanese performer Akiko Kanda in this intimate portrait of creativity and individuality, After seeing a Martha Graham performance in college, Kanda left her family behind in Japan and arrived in New York City, where she studied under the legendary Graham and became a principal dancer with the troupe. Following the wiry artist as she moves from practice floor to performance hall, and from the cramped single-room apartment she lives in to a trip home to see her aging mother, director Sumiko Haneda reveals a woman who has rebelled against traditional ideals of marriage and motherhood, and who nearly single-handedly brought modern dance to Japan-and kept it alive. โWhen I die,โ Kanda tells the director, โI will be content if I can just say, โI danced.'โ
