A Conversation with Min Tanaka

Ars Nova Workshop, in collaboration with and Artists Space (NYC), is pleased to present a special virtual discussion with the renowned dancer Min Tanaka as the final event for Milford Graves: Fundamental Frequency, a multiform retrospective exhibition on the life and work of interdisciplinary artist and percussionist Milford Graves. Tanaka was one of Milford Graves’ most cherished and longstanding collaborators and we are thrilled that he can join us to reflect on their first meeting and their decades-long artistic dialogue.

This virtual conversation will take place at Artists Space and will be presented as a livestream on the exhibition website, January 19, 2022, at 7:00PM.

Biography

After training in classical ballet and modern dance, Min Tanaka began his solo activities in 1974, developing ‘hyper-dance,’ a new style of physical expression, which has led him to his international debut at the Louvre Museum in 1978. His performance — extremely gentle and infinitesimal movement to withdraw the potentiality of a body — impacted on the art world, far beyond the dance scene as a brand-new artistic expression. In 1985, he moved to a village in the mountainside where he still resides, in search for deeper physicality in his daily life based on farming. Since his first appearance in the film Twilight Samurai (Shochiku) in 2002, he has also actively performed in numerous films including Rurouni Kenshin (Warner Bros.) and a Netflix film The Outsider.

Special Thanks

Very special thanks to Satoshi Kondo and Allyson Spellacy of Fergus McCaffery Gallery and Rin Ishihara for making this program possible.