Speed Networking Hosts

Mark Ball (Artistic Director / Chief Executive, LIFT)
• on 2.15 (Sat)
Mark was appointed as Artistic Director and Chief Executive of LIFT in April 2009. Prior to this, Mark established Fierce Earth Ltd, which specialises in the production and presentation of cultural events, festivals and programmes. From 1998 – 2007 he directed Fierce!, an annual international festival of theatre, live art and contemporary dance taking place across the West Midlands. Fierce! is now widely recognised as one of the UK’s most vibrant contemporary arts festivals. In January 2008 he was appointed Head of Events and Exhibitions at the Royal Shakespeare Company, leading a new department responsible for developing the RSC’s profile. In November 2005, Mark was named the Institute of Director’s (IoD) Young Director of the Year and was made a Clore Fellow in 2006/2007. He also holds posts at the Fellowship Council of the Royal Society of the Arts and is Trustee of Creative Republic and the Live Art Development Agency.

Marcela Diez Martinez (Programming Director, Festival Internacional Cervantino)
• on 2.15 (Sat)
Born in Mexico City. Studied at Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana Xochimilco and Université Libre de Bruxelles. Involved in Festival Internacional Cervantino since 2001, she became the Programming Director of the festival in 2013. With previous experience at Casa Jaime Sabines, Canadian Embassy, the National Coordination in charge of the Independence Bicentennial and Revolution Centennial
, the National System of Musical Development / CONACULTA, Secretaría de Cultura del Distrito Federal, and the Culture and Development Foundation of the Bank for Inter-American Development.

Naoyoshi Fujita (Director, The Museum of Art, Kochi, Japan)
• on 2.15 (Sat)
After working as Art Coordinator who plans and produces events for the 399-seat hall with a noh stage of the Museum of Art, Kochi, Naoyoshi became the director of the Museum in April 2007. He has managed various events such as co-production with dumb type, small performances by Pina Bausch, and over 250 other theatre, dance, film and music projects. In recent years, he has produced performances, invited international companies to Japan, and been involved in international co-production and residence programs.

Dominique Garde Torres (Production Manager, Performing Department, Cultural Center of the Philippines)
• on 2.14 (Fri)
Dominique “Nikki” Garde-Torres is a writer and an events manager. She has worked at the Cultural Center of the Philippines since 1990 as a Production Manager with the Performing Department. As such, she has been at the forefront of major national and international festivals among which were the First to the Fourth National Theater Festival, the 1998 International Theater Festival and the annual PASINAYA multi-Arts Festival. She has assisted in the organization of workshops all over the country and travelled to England in 1999 for an internship with the David Glass Ensemble. Nikki is also a writer who has written many scripts for various CCP events and who has contributed to various Philippine magazines. Aside from her work at the CCP, she is the Assistant Regional Advisor of the Philippine Chapter of the Society for Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.

Joseph Gonzales (Dean of the Faculty of Dance, ASWARA [National Academy of Arts, Culture and Heritage], Malaysia)
• on 2.15 (Sat)
Joseph Gonzales is one of Malaysia’s leading dance educators, a prolific and versatile choreographer, dance advocate and professional curator. Fondly known as Malaysia’s “Headmaster of Dance,” his work as a choreographer has been presented at festivals in Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Japan, Belgium, Indonesia, Beijing, Taiwan, India, Korea, Hong Kong, New Zealand, USA and Australia. He is the first author of Malaysia’s books on contemporary dance including Choreography – a Malaysian Perspective, Dancing the Malaysian and Malaysian Dancescapes, as well as editing academic dance publications. He is artistic director and producer of several national programs and the international festival Tari. He established the ASWARA Dance Company in 2011 to fill a gaping hole in Malaysia where there is a need for professional companies working in traditional and contemporary dance. ASWARA Dance Company received RM1.3 million from 2011-2014 from the Sime Darby Foundation for the project Connecting Communities, as well as other support.

Aaron Greenwald (Executive Director, Duke Performances, USA)
• on 2.14 (Fri)
Since 2006, Greenwald has been the Executive Director of Duke Performances. The organization has a 1.8 million dollar budget and serves upwards of 35,000 patrons annually — roughly 8,500 of whom are Duke students. Duke Performances has commissioned, developed, and premiered major new work from composers Steve Reich, Maria Schneider and Jason Moran; choreographers/dance companies Shen Wei Dance Arts, Alonzo King Lines Ballet, and Donald Byrd Spectrum Dance Company; and musicians Bon Iver, Simone Dinnerstein, Branford Marsalis, and The Bad Plus amongst others. In addition to commissioning and developing new work, Duke Performances maintains an annual schedule of roughly 80 performances — these shows are staged in a network of more than 20 venues both on campus and in town — and span every conceivable genre. The majority of these presentations include an artist-in-residency component that engages both Duke’s campus and the broader Durham community.

Yusuke Hashimoto (Program Director, KYOTO EXPERIMENT / ROHM Theatre Kyoto, Japan)
• on 2.15 (Sat)
Yusuke began working in the field of theatre in 1997 while being a student at Kyoto University. In 2003, he founded Hashimoto Production Office. His work includes company management for contemporary theatre and dance, and planning and producing for the “Engeki Keikaku” project at Kyoto Art Center. He established KYOTO EXPERIMENT in 2010, and has been its Program Director. Since 2013, Chairperson of Open Network for Performing Arts Management (ON-PAM). Since January 2014, Section Manager of the Preparation Department of ROHM Theatre Kyoto.

Ben Johnson (Program Manager, Center for the Art of Performance at UCLA, USA)
• on 2.15 (Sat)
Ben Johnson is the Program Manager at the Center for the Art of Performance at UCLA (CAP-UCLA) in Los Angeles. Previously, he was the Director of Programs at United States Artists (Los Angeles), the Director of Northrop Concerts and Lectures at the University of Minnesota – Minneapolis, and the Director of Education and Audience Development at the University Musical Society at the University of Michigan – Ann Arbor. He has also worked at the Ordway Music Theater, and interned at the American Dance Festival and Walker Art Center. He is affiliated with many foundations, funders, and national and international peer institutions.

Emilio Kalil (President, Fundacao Cidade das Artes, Brazil)
• on 2.14 (Fri)
Journalist graduated from PUCRS, he worked as a TV producer and director up to 1978. Director of Grupo Corpo (1978-88). Director of the Department of Theaters of Teatro Municipal of São Paulo (1988). Chairman of Teatro Municipal Foundation in Rio de Janeiro (1995-99). Coordinator of Scenography and International Parallel Projects of Associação Brasil 500 Anos and Executive Officer of Projects for Brasil Connects Cultura (1999-2004). Director of Production and Projects for the 29a Bienal de São Paulo (2010), and Secretary of Culture from Rio De Janeiro City (2011-12). Since 1990, he has organized Brazilian tours of such artists as Pina Bausch, the Paris Opera Ballet, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Trisha Brown, Merce Cunnigham, Lucinda Childs, José Limón, Kodô, Olodum, Vik Muniz and A Filetta, and produced, executed and directed such exhibitions as BRÉSIL INDIEN – Les Arts des Améridiens du Brésil, MIGUEL RIO BRANCO – Douler Plaisir La Douler, TROPICÁLIA – A Revolution in Brazilian Culture and YOKO ONO.

Eri Karatsu (Senior Curator, Aichi Arts Center / Producer, Aichi Triennale 2013, Japan)
• on 2.14 (Fri)
Eri has planned and produced performing arts works, mainly dance, in Aichi Arts Center since 1992, and also produced performing arts programmes in Aichi Triennale twice. She was a member of the Cultural Policy Committee of Council for Cultural Affairs between 2007 and 2009. She has also been a member of the Public Cultural Facilities Association’s Arts Management Handbook Planning Committee since 2011, and was Chairperson of the executive committee of the 65th plenary meeting of Japanese Society for Dance Research, a jury member of Asahi Arts Foundation in 2013, and one of the juries of Toyota Choreography Award.

Yota Kageyama (Theater Manager / Exective Director, ROHM Theatre Kyoto, Japan)
• on 2.14 (Fri)
Worked at the Theater Department of Haiyuza Theater Company (1990-96). General Manager of the Production Department and Planning and Project Department of the Company (1996-2006). Producer / Theater Manager of Matsumoto Performing Arts Centre (2006-10). Theater Manager of Kanagawa Arts Theatre (2010-13). Since August 2013, Theater Manager / Exective Director of ROHM Theatre Kyoto (formerly Kyoto Kaikan) that will open in January 2016. A trainee under the study program of the Agency for Cultural Affairs in 1998 (London).

Hirotomo Kojima (Vice Administrative Director, Festival/Tokyo, Japan)
• on 2.14 (Fri)
Having worked in Kyoto Art Center, Hirotomo has been a staff member at Art Network Japan since 2009. After working at Kyunasaka Studio, he became the Director of Alterio Theater between 2010 and 2012. Since 2012 he has been at Festival/Tokyo, working as a producer and administrator.

Yosuke Kuramochi (Coordinator of ZOU-NO-HANA TERRACE, SPIRAL / Wacoal Art Center, Art Produce Dept., Kanagawa, Japan)
• on 2.14 (Fri)
Yosuke is a Production Coordinator at ZOU-NO-HANA TERRACE, a rest house with an art space in Zou-No-Hana Park that symbolizes the history and future of Yokohama as the place where the Yokohama Port was first built. Aiming to make it a place where a lot of people and cultures encounter, connect and create a new culture, the Terrace produces programs of the various forms of arts.

Aleksandra Manuilenko (Projects Coordinator, International Relations Department, Theatre Union of the Russian Federation, Russia)
• on 2.15 (Sat)
Between 2004 and 2008 she worked as Administrator in drama theatre named after Russian director and playwright Nikolai Kolyada and in 2008 graduated from the Russian Presidential Academy of Public Administration. From December 2008 to January 2011 worked as an assistant of the Artistic Director and Choreographer of contemporary dance theatre “Provincial Dances.” In 2011 Manuilenko Aleksandra participated in a five-week residency in Hubbard Street Dance Theatre (Chicago, USA) through CEC ArtsLink Fellowship program. In January 2011 she received a position of the Chairman’s assistant in the Theatre Union of the Russian Federation (Yekaterinburg Department). In January 2013 she moved to Moscow and continued to work in Head office of the Theatre Union of the Russian Federation as Projects Coordinator in International Relations Department.

Maki Miyakubo (Producer of Performing Arts, SPIRAL / Wacoal Art Center, Tokyo, Japan)
• on 2.15 (Sat)
Maki is a Producer for performing arts programs at Spiral, a multi-purpose cultural centre, as well as a Producer of Dance Triennale Tokyo. She has been involved not only in contemporary dance, but also in contemporary art and other events inside and outside Spiral.

Chuji Mori (Program Officer, SENDAI THEATER STUDIO 10-BOX, Japan)
• on 2.14 (Fri)
Started his career as a theatre producer in 1995. While working as a producer for contemporary dance and theatre, Chuji is also a workshop designer (local education developer) and a member of Sendai Public Hall Governing Committee. He is also the Director of Sendai Short Play Prize since 2013.

Anna Nakaso (Coordinator of Yokohama Dance Collection, Yokohama Red Brick Warehouse Number 1 / Yokohama Arts Foundation, Japan)
• on 2.15 (Sat)
Yokohama Dance Collection EX, which started in 1996 aiming to nurture young choreographers and to spread contemporary dance more to the public, is held again this year. Anna also plans and produces arts and cultural events at Yokohama Red Brick Warehouse such as Art Rink, which is held on a skating rink in collaboration with young artists.

Yukako Ogura (Director, AI.HALL / Itami Culture Foundation, Hyogo, Japan)
• on 2.15 (Sat)
Born in Hyogo in 1976. Graduated from Kobe College. From 2001 to June 2006, she worked for AI.HALL in Itami City, Hyogo, and was responsible for the dance programs. She became a freelance performing arts presenter in 2006 and engaged in various performances and events mainly of dance but also including theatre and music. She became a director of AI.HALL in 2008, and has been planning and producing mainly dance programs and workshops. A staff member of KYOTO EXPERIMENT since 2010.

Shinji Ono (Producer, Aoyama Theatre / Aoyama Round Theatre, Tokyo, Japan)
• on 2.15 (Sat)
Shinji Ono has engaged in producing among others dance and music performances and workshops, co-productions and festivals, and has also been active in promoting networks with theatres and festivals both in Japan and abroad. He has produced “Dance Triennale Tokyo” (since 2002), “Korea+Japan Dance Contact” (2003-2007), “TOKYO DANCE TODAY” Series (since 2008) and “DANCE-X Montreal-Seoul-Tokyo” (since 2008). Member of the jury for Yokohama Dance Collection EX.

Hiromi Ozaki (Chief Producer / Production Manager, OWL SPOT [Toshima Performing Arts Center], Tokyo, Japan)
• on 2.15 (Sat)
Hiromi first worked in the Opening Office of OWL SPOT in 2007, and became Production Manager in 2011. While being in charge of direction of the theatre’s annual program, she produces dance performances and co-produces educational programs with educational institutions including universities. At the OWL SPOT Theater, she has produced such artists’ works as Hisao Takase, Makoto Sato, Shigeki Nakano, Akito Inui, Sugadairo and ShibusaShirazu.

René van der Pluijm (Artistic Director, Stadsschouwburg Amsterdam, Netherlands)
• on 2.14 (Fri)
René van der Pluijm (Rotterdam, 1960) got his PhD in Theatre Studies in 1988. Since then he worked for several Theatre Companies in The Netherlands as Head of Artistic Planning, Marketing and International Touring. In 2000 he became Theatre Presenter in Groningen where he organised a 125 days Festival to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the Groningen City Theatre. Since 2009 he is Artistic Director of Stadsschouwburg Amsterdam (City Theatre Amsterdam), the most important theatre in The Netherlands for large-scale presentations of contemporary Theatre and Dance. He is also a member of the artistic team of Julidans, the Amsterdam Festival of Contemporay Dance, and has been, or still is, member of several Juries for Theatre Awards in The Netherlands and Belgium, Board of Directors of theatre related institutions and Advisor of several (inter)national Arts Foundations.

David Ravel (Director, Alverno Presents, USA)
• on 2.14 (Fri)
David Ravel is the Director of Alverno Presents, the performing arts series of Alverno College. Alverno Presents is the longest running performing arts series in Wisconsin. During his decade with Alverno Presents, David launched new initiatives including Global Union, a free outdoor world music festival, now in its ninth season, and the Alverno Presents Summer Dance Residency, which will celebrate its seventh year this summer. David has worked in the performing arts as a presenter, writer, producer and a university lecturer. Prior to Alverno Presents, David served as Producing Director for Theatre X, a Milwaukee-based experimental ensemble theatre company. He has served as a grant panelist nationwide, most recently for The National Endowment for the Arts, The Japan Foundation and NEFA’s National Dance Project. He has served on boards for Ex Fabula and the Wisconsin Presenters Network and has judged feature and short film competitions at the Milwaukee Film Festival.

Atsuhiko Sakiyama (Chief Producer, Kanagawa Arts Theatre, Japan)
• on 2.14 (Fri)
Born in Okinawa in 1962. Atsuhiko joined in Gekidan Mirai Gekijo in 1983 where he studied under Shigemi Satoyoshi. In 1992, he entered Sphere Co., Ltd. as a member of the staff to start up a theater Art Sphere. After having experienced management of the theatre, he produced various theatre works since 1996, such as “Mansai Nomura’s Denko Keiji Kyogen kai” and “Moscow Maly Theatre invitation performance.” He then became the Chief Producer at Owl Spot and joined in the launch of the theatre in 2006. In 2011 he became the Chief Producer of KAAT Kanagawa Arts Theatre.

Kei Saito (Administrator, BIRD Theatre Company TOTTORI, Japan)
• on 2.14 (Fri)
Born in Tokyo in 1974. After having worked in a stage lighting company for 5 years, Kei moved to Tottori in 2006 and joined in the set up of the BIRD Theatre Company TOTTORI. He now is an administrator, managing the theatre as well as producing performances, drama festivals and international projects. He is a member of a board of directors at Open Network for Performing Arts Management (ON-PAM). He is now based in Chizu cho, Tottori.

Hisashi Shimoyama (Producer / Artistic Director, International Festival OKINAWA for Young Audience / Representative Director, ACO OKINAWA [Art Community Organization], Japan)
• on 2.14 (Fri)
Hisashi produced various works referring to Okinawa including Island Ballad which won an award in Agency for Cultural Affairs National Arts Festival in 1981, and received the Art Encouragement Prize of Okinawa Times in 1981. Since 2005, he has held the International Theater Festival OKINAWA for Young Audience every year as General Producer and Artistic Director, aiming at Asian and local Okinawan families. Hisashi received Japan Theatre for Children and Young People Award in 2008, and the 63rd Art Encouragement Prize of Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology in 2013. While being Representative Diector of ACO Okinawa, he is also a director of Japan Theatre for Children and Young People Association and a director of Japan Performing Arts Foundation.

Eisuke Sugizaki (Yokohama Creativecity Center Leader, Yokohama Arts Foundation)
• on 2.14 (Fri)
Born in Odawara in 1975. Living in the City of Yokohama. Has been working at Yokohama Arts Foundation since 1999. After engaging in management of local cultural facilities, the largest-scale jazz festival in Japan “YOKOHAMA JAZZ PROMENADE,” Yokohama Dance Collection and being dispatched to the City of Yokohama’s department for promotion of Creative City Yokohama, he is currently the leader of Yokohama Creativecity Center. The Center is a project that has made use of a historical architecture, which used to be a bank. Since 2007, he has been working on an intermediary suppporting project “Arts Commission Yokohama” to connect and increase bases for artistic activities and to develop the environment for artists and creators, providing consultation services to more than 100 cases regarding the arts and culture as well as community building.

Virve Sutinen (Director, Tanz im August, Finland / Germany)
• on 2.15 (Sat)
Before moving to Berlin to work as Director of the Tanz im August festival, Ms. Sutinen was the Artistic Director and General Manager of Dansens Hus Stockholm (2008-13) and the head of Kiasma Theatre (1997-2007) being in charge of the Performing Arts Programme at Kiasma, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Helsinki, where she directed, co-directed and founded such projects as Rotation Dance Film Festival, URB – Urban Festival and /theatre.now. She has also served as Co-Artistic Director for Moving in November in Helsinki. She is one of the founding members of European Dancehouse Network and ICE HOT – Nordic Dance Platform. She is currently sitting the board of University of Arts in Helsinki, and serves as a dance advisor for Helsinki Festival. She was also the president of IETM (2007-13), and served as a chair for the Nordic Culture Point’s Mobility and Network Programme (2006-12). Ms. Sutinen is a graduate of New York University, and holds an MA in Performance Studies.

Akiko Takeshita (Performing Arts Producer, Yamaguchi Center for Arts and Media [YCAM], Japan)
• on 2.15 (Sat)
Akiko is a producer at YCAM, a public arts centre, which explores new ways of education and communication as well as expressions using technology such as computer programs, the Internet, films, and sensing. She is looking forward to meeting artists and encountering works in which ideas develop through the stimulus of technology and human bodies.

Hiroshi Takahagi (Vice Director, Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre, Japan)
• on 2.15 (Sat)
Born in Tokyo in 1953, Hiroshi Takahagi graduated from the Faculty of Letters, the University of Tokyo. He was one of the founding members of Yume no Yumin Sha. He was Manager of the Panasonic Globe Theatre, General Producer of Setagaya Public Theatre, and currently Vice Director of Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre and also a guest professor at Tama Art University and a member of an advisory council for cultural policy at Agency for Cultural Affairs. He has published several books including Boku To Engeki To Yume no Yumin Sha (published by Nikkei Publishing Inc.).

Miki Tsukada (Curator, Setagaya Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan)
• on 2.15 (Sat)
Miki plans and produces exhibitions as well as performances and workshops, which are one of the distinctive features of the Museum. She has been involved in “Trance/Entrance” (2005–), a performance series using its architectural space, physical workshop series “An Empty Art Museum” (2004–2012) and “Engeki no E” (2012–), and other dance and music events.

RA Sarah Ulfah (Artistic and Program Manager, Gedung Kesenian Jakarta, Indonesia)
• on 2.14 (Fri)
Born in Palembang, 1977. Has been working in Gedung Kesenian Jakarta since 2007. To perform at any challenging position in the area of Artistic and Program such as handle all the programs material for performing art in Gedung Kesenian Jakarta including the creating, plan, format and also the artists. Being a person who’s in charge in collaboration art and cultural programs and also cross check the content and the quality of the show in terms of artistic, audience and program. Maintain the relationship between artist, arts institute / school, the Embassy, the Cultural Center and others, then negotiation with groups or artists who’d like to perform in Gedung Kesenian Jakarta including for collaboration relationship or private relationship.

Masayoshi Yahagi (Producer, Toyohashi Arts Theatre PLAT, Aichi, Japan)
• on 2.14 (Fri)
Born in Tokyo in 1965. Masayoshi is the chief producer at Toyohashi Arts Theatre PLAT. He started getting involved in theatre when he became a member of a drama group “Gekidan Tokei” at Tokyo Metropolitan University, and launched a theatre company after his graduation. He had worked in Setagaya Public Theatre between April 1998 and March 2012. He became a staff member at Toyohashi Cultural Foundation in April 2012, and works as a producer at Toyohashi Arts Theatre PLAT.

Fumi Yokobori (Program Director, NPO DANCE BOX, Hyogo, Japan)
• on 2.14 (Fri)
Born in Nara in 1978. She has been engaging in DANCE BOX since 1999. A trainee under the study program for upcoming artists of the Agency for Cultural Affairs in 2006. Researched the situation of performing arts in six Asian countries and New York as a fellow of the Asian Cultural Council from 2008 to 2009. Based at Art Theater dB Kobe, she has been experimenting on programs that connect “dance,” “local communities” and “theater” and aiming to build network with a focus on Asia.