Eguchi Takaya (1900–1977)

Following in the footsteps of Baku Ishii and Takada Seiko, dancer Eguchi Takaya established an abstract dance form based on Neue Tanz from Germany. He also helped to found a dancers’ organization in pre- and postwar Japan. In addition, he contributed to the creation of Japanese lyrical modern dance, and published journals for modern dance. Born in Noheji, Aomori Prefecture in Japan, Eguchi studied with Takada Masao and Takada Seiko. Takada Masao and Takada Seiko were dancers who, alongside Baku Ishii and Michio Itō, studied under Giovanni Rossi at the Imperial Theatre. After Rossi’s move to America, the four students became involved in popular culture and other areas such as performing arts, photography, and film, and were the first generation of dancers to base their work on Western dance. Their methods were influenced by rythmique (eurhythmics). In most of their work, the performers danced to the accompaniment of music that was well known at the time.