@photo : Komaro Hoshino
@Chieko was born and bred in a traditional thatched farmhouse in the countryside of Tochigi Prefecture. Though she had no early training in dance or music she was an enthusiastic athlete in basketball, badminton and track and field. After studying jewellery design at college she left for the big city to work in a department store in Shinjuku. Her first encounter with the precursor of Kodo was at a concert at which there were only 20 people in the audience. What sticks most strongly in her mind from that first encounter was being hit with flying spittle in her front row centre seat from one of the drummers in the heat of performance. What startled her was that she didn't particularly mind. Where did the intensity of their playing come from and why did she react to it so passionately? She went to every concert she could manage over the ensuing months and eventually was invited to join. Within two years she was appearing on stage as a performer, gradually working up to the position of principal company dancer. Those familiar with Kodo's performances will remember the lone, straw hatted figure of Chieko dancing 'Nishimonai', making her way slowly in the half light from stage left to right, to the delicate sound of bells, flute and drum. After a decade of performing she hit an artistic wall, felt no energy to continue and contemplated quitting. She felt however a sense of duty towards the future of Kodo in general and to the younger dancers in particular. A compromise was reached whereby she took the first Kodo sabbatical, a year studying dance in Bali. Chieko believes that dance has its origins in people's ceremonies through which they attempt to communicate with the gods. She feels traditional Japanese folk dance has lost sight of this connection and degenerated into mere 'performance, while Balinese dance remains connected with these origins. Off she went to recharge and explore.
@An even more important influence on her dance was marrying and having a child. 'When you are a mother you can't fuss too much about details.' She is now less concerned with style, beauty and form than with simply expressing who she is and how she feels at that particular moment. She feels her dance is now more 'substantial and big hearted'.
@As well as continuing to teach dance at Kodo she looks forward to more solo performances and continuing work with the group called 'Hanayui' she has formed with two other dancers of Kodo, Yoko Fujimoto, and Mitsue Kinjo. They not only perform but also conduct research into traditional Sado folklore and ways. They hope to be able to preserve and help flourish that which might otherwise be lost and at the same time begin to repay those who have given them so much on Sado Island.
