Meet Aika Takeshima | Dance artist, choreographer & DEI practitioner

We had the good fortune of connecting with Aika Takeshima and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Aika, what is the most important factor behind your success?
Both personally as Aika Takeshima and as a dance company sarAika movement collective that I’m the co-director/choreographer of, the most important factor of our brand is that we make art to empower others. Our focus is on people, not just highlighting our creation or movement and this concept goes also to our classes. We really think “What we can do for her/him/them.”. I think that’s why our supporters, audience, clients and students feel represented and respected, and they keep supporting us. You can see this concept is the most important factor for us through our mission – “To help people find possibility and freedom within themselves”.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I strongly believe in the power of art, being inclusive and collaborative. That’s why, my/our creation is not just movements, but with a distinct taste for interdisciplinary collaboration, which I think makes us apart from other dance companies. As an immigrant from Japan with a partner who is also an immigrant from Italy, living in the U.S, we are fortunate that we can have opportunities to work with diverse creatives. Each of them brings a new perspective to us and we innovate with their perspectives and ours.

Also as I said earlier, I/we make art about and for people. Art raises individual self confidence, leading to the understanding of diversity, opening the doors to eliminate prejudice and discrimination. As a spokeswoman of queer and immigrant artist community, from a poor family in a small town, I know everyone has much more freedom and possibilities than they think, they just don’t know. I want people to be aware of it.
For this reason, themes of my/our works are always based on the actual sensation of what people need in the moment or something we should let go from us. Sometimes, art makes people laugh, feel light, or reflect about themselves, to find and remember something important or forgotten, like solidarity and unity.

For example, our newest work “DOUBLE BIND” is to empower the women community. It focuses on translating voices into movement from those who identify as or resonate with the qualities of being a woman, Double Bind delivers a universal message of equity, diversity, inclusivity, and human connection. The process has consisted of independent research, and interviewing folks from NYC, Italy, and Japan, to acquire a full scope of the cultural experience that women share in sarAika movement collective’s broad community. This allowed them to create an organic script that underlines and empowers women’s voices, in reference to the cascading events and harsh rhetoric that the women’s rights movement has faced over the past few years all over the world.

If you live as an artist, I think challenges are always in front of you. It can be a financial or creative challenge. But even though there are challenges in front of us, I want to take the challenge as a chance to be more creative and smart, so that I can keep going as an artist.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I will definitely bring you to Bushwick in Brooklyn. Bushwick used to be farmland, but it evolved into a manufacturing hub in the 19th century. At that time, there were many crimes in this area. But years later, these industrial buildings would become an urban canvas for street art or repurposed for restaurants, studios, and more. This evolution was made thanks to Joe Ficalora, who wanted to change the area where his father was killed, and he started The Bushwick Collective that collaborates with artists from Brooklyn and around the world to create murals throughout Bushwick. Thanks to his movement, the area decreased the number of crimes but increased the number of so many cozy cafes, bars, restaurants, clubs and people from around the world. You can start your day with a cup of coffee while enjoying the murals, have lunch at a cozy restaurant, go to House of Yes(the most famous club in Bushwick) , and have a slice of pizza to end your fun day in Bushwick!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I would like to give a shoutout to Sara Pizzi, who is my both life and work partner. We are totally different, I mean, many times we are opposite. Our learning style, communication style, body type, introvert/extrovert, culture, ethnicity, etc. But because of this, she has taught me so many thing. She gives me a lot of love. She is very supportive to everyone and teaches me how to support others. She helps me do something I’m not good at. When I lose confidence, she reminds me that I’m doing great so that I can keep going. She is still young, but she has been building her career with her vision as an artist. I admire her so much. Without her, I would not have known the importance of love and support and how to believe in me, instead, I would have given up on myself forgetting my value. I’m who I am because of her. That’s why I want to give a shoutout to Sara Pizzi, who is a kindest and most creative emerging artist full of love.

Website: https://aikatakeshima.com https://saraikacreation.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aikatakeshima/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aika.takeshima

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5In50yO4hEruZjC0jsh6Jw

Image Credits
BeccaVision