At the core of KinoSaito’s physical space, and its mission, is the theater. A 1500sf vaulted space, the theater is the site of original new works of theater and performance, as well works from Kikuo Saito’s theater oeuvre reimagined by contemporary performance groups. Regular programming includes dance performances, film screenings and concert recitals, along with performances, installations and new media work by artists in residence and visiting artists and companies.
LA MAMA EXPERIMENTAL THEATRE CLUB
Miki Orihara’s Performance
18 Jul. 2026 | 3-4pm
This residency project develops an ongoing choreographic work that began with Orihara’s 2014 solo Prologue (performed at La MaMa), originally centered on her relationship with her mother and now expanding to explore the broader influence of mothers—women she has encountered who have profoundly shaped her life and artistic voice. Tentatively titled Resonance, the project will evolve through a series of workshops, an open rehearsal, and a final performance. A key inspiration for Orihara is her late teacher Nanako Yamada, who transmitted Dalcroze’s 20 gestures, an early modern dance practice that influenced both Japanese and American pioneers. During the residency, Orihara will share a selection of these gestures with participants, guiding them to develop their own movement vocabularies and collaboratively build new material. An open rehearsal will provide space to experiment and deepen the work, while the culminating performance will present this evolving choreography, incorporating projection and video in collaboration with a videographer, as she continues to investigate the intersection of memory, lineage, and embodied resonance.
La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club is dedicated to the artist and all aspects of the theatre. They are a creative home to artists and audiences from around the world and a dynamic hub for risk-taking performance. La MaMa believes in the power of art to reveal our shared humanity and supports artists of all identities in the creation of new work.
Founded in 1961 by Ellen Stewart, La MaMa is the only original Off-Off-Broadway theatre still in operation. Over the course of 61 years, they have grown from an underground refuge for the avant-garde to a world-renowned cultural institution, with 30+ Obie Awards, dozens of Drama Desk Awards, Bessie Awards, Villager Awards, and the 2018 Regional Theater Tony Award. They have supported nearly 160,000 artists from all over the world, such as Blue Man Group, Peter Brook, André De Shields, Ping Chong, Olympia Dukakis, Harvey Fierstein, Philip Glass, Tedeschi Kantor, Shuji Terayama, Adrienne Kennedy, Diane Lane, Taylor Mac, Bette Midler, Meredith Monk, Sam Shepard, Andrei Serban, Elizabeth Swados, and Julie Taymor, to name a few.