Kaiji Moriyama

Kaiji Moriyama first began his career with a musical theater company in Japan, and moved to the world of professional choreography.
He has worked with a number of leading contemporary dance companies and innovative Japanese choreographers such as Kota Yamazaki, Yukio Ueshima, and Aki Nagatani.

He was acclaimed for his performance at the 2001 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, where he was described by Kelly Apter of The Scotsman as "One of the most talented dancers at this year's Fringe. It's worth going for him alone." He was selected to represent Japan at the Little Asia Dance Project with his piece "Lamazuella", and also toured to Australia, Hong Kong, Taipei, Seoul and Tokyo.

In January 2005, his latest production and U.S. solo debut "katana"(sword) was reviewed by Anna Kisselgoff of The New York Times as "a dance of amazing concentration by an amazing dancer".

He further cemented his high reputation as one of Japan's up and coming young dancers and choreographers.
Kaiji is unique as an artist in that he has expanded his creative horizons and branched into other fields.

He has appeared in high-profile TV commercial films, and his first film project, Cha no Aji (The Taste of Tea), directed by Katsuhito Ishii, was the first Japanese film to open Director's Week at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival. Since April 2004, he has appeared on NHK, Japan's public broadcasting station, "karada de asobo (let's play by body)", which is an innovative TV program for kids, broadcasted nationwide everyday.
Kaiji is style has been likened to a sword, tearing through space with a smoothness and sensitivity which crosses over generational boundaries.