Tapas Das in Blogs

Finding the Flow State With Choreographer Akira Uchida

Akira Uchida’s choreography doesn’t fit neatly into a stylistic box. Originally from Ottawa, Canada, and now based in New York City, he grew up immersed in the world of competitions and conventions, honing his skills in jazz, tap, hip hop, ballet, and contemporary. After graduating from a performing arts high school, Uchida dove headfirst into Toronto’s commercial industry as a dancer. Itching for something more, he soon shifted his focus to choreography and teaching. Uchida has since collaborated with the Clyfford Still Museum in Denver, Colorado, the art and design video channel NOWNESS, and brands including Reebok, Nike, and Juicy Couture.

Uchida deftly synthesizes multiple streams of inspiration into a coherent idea. Club culture and electronic music influence his movement vocabulary, leading to choreography that’s raw, joyful, intimate, and hypnotic. As Uchida’s body of work continues to grow, so does his curiosity—he is currently developing an extensive body of research on groove and how to access it within the body: “I believe that there’s a really healing aspect to that modality of movement,” he says.

Cultivating Connections

“As a choreographer, I think it’s important to be accessible to dancers. I make an effort to meet new dancers and make a point of teaching a lot in New York. I love connecting with the community through class or even just inviting people to a rehearsal.”

Between Two Worlds

“I’m always navigating how to bridge the concert world and the commercial-dance world, and I feel grateful to exist as an artist in this moment in time because I think that, even 10 years ago, I probably would’ve had to choose a lane. Making work in those worlds involves very different processes, but it’s important for me to cultivate my voice in both spaces.”

Photo by Jonah Rosenberg.

The Next Generation

“With my students, there’s such an availability—they just want to grow and learn. There’s so much hope about what’s possible for them as dancers. As a teacher, I remind myself that my words really do have the potential to make a huge impact.”

The post Finding the Flow State With Choreographer Akira Uchida appeared first on Dance Spirit.

Tapas Das: Tapas Das, a young entrepreneur of our times started TWIST N TURNS in 2005. A person who is kind, generous, creative and down to earth wanted to start his own one of a kind dance academy. According to him, Dance is a language of movements that involves space, time and the human body. He was born and grew up in Kolkata, the cultural hub of India. Being appreciated in the field of dance all his life, he is extremely talented. He has been dancing since the age of four. Once he finished his high school, he learned jazz/modern and contemporary dance. His horizons were broadened even more when he started dancing Bollywood with Beat Busters for 4 years, which then was the most upcoming dance crew in Kolkata. After that exposure, he studied how to be a dance teacher, which later started helping him impart his knowledge about dance. Thus, in 2005, with the help of family and friends, he started TWIST N TURNS. Starting with a mere number of 40 students, today TWIST N TURNS currently has over 500 students. Over the time Tapas has taught and performed all over the country. He has performed in cities such as Kolkata, Delhi, Chennai, Jhansi, Jaipur, Jodhpur, and Udaipur etc. He has been an active participant in the Salsa India Congress in the cities of Bangalore and Bombay, and he has also visited various International Salsa Congresses in Europe, namely in Berlin ,Singapore, Hong Kong,Dubai. He is been also trained recently at Broadway Dance Center (New York), Alvin Alley (New York) and Steps on Broadway (New York). He is not only a dancer or teacher. He is a successful choreographer and has coordinated various shows without difficulty in our country. His leadership skills are exceptional, thus he is where he stands today. His aim in life would be to become a dance educator. He wants to share his tremendous knowledge in the right way to the right people. He is also, simultaneously running other brands like Zumba Kolkata, Bollywood Studio ArtistWala.com and India International Dance Institute.