SAORI HALA
dance artist / choreographer
photo by Nanako Kobayashi
Saori HALA
Dance artist, choreographer
Born in Tokyo (1988)
Based in Tokyo
Saori Hala is a dance artist based in Tokyo. Her interdisciplinary practice investigates the entanglement between body, time, and space through choreography, video, text, and drawing. She is particularly drawn to more-than-human agencies—such as gravity, materials, and climate—and to reimagining the performing body as a perceptual interface responsive to both human and nonhuman forces.
Born in 1988, Hala relocated to Germany following the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and the Fukushima nuclear disaster. There, she developed a practice grounded in the notion of the “situated body,” exploring how perception and movement are conditioned by design systems, spatial constraints, and ecological environments.
After returning to Tokyo in 2023, she expanded her research across East Asia. P wave (since 2021), her ongoing performance series, examines the relationship between seismic memory and embodied anticipation through performances and fieldwork in Japan and Taiwan. Play Modulor (2025), co-produced with Setagaya Public Theatre, critiques Le Corbusier’s architectural standardization and its impact on bodily norms. Da Dad Dada is a documentary performance exploring postwar patriarchy and memory. Her earlier works include no room (2019), a site-specific performance at Dance New Air.
Her works have been presented at major venues including Theatre Tram (Tokyo), KAAT Kanagawa Arts Theatre (Yokohama), Aichi Arts Center (Nagoya), Freespace (Hong Kong), and Uferstudios (Berlin).
Hala holds an MA in Design from Tokyo University of the Arts and an MA in Solo Dance from the Berlin University of the Arts (HZT SODA). She teaches at Musashino Art University and Tama Art University, and is the founder and co-director of PORT, a peer-to-peer critique platform for performance artists in Japan. She has received the Choreography Prize at Mes de Danza (Spain) and the El Sur Foundation New Talent Award. Since 2025, she has been an Artist Fellow of the Saison Foundation.
ハラサオリ
振付家、ダンサー、パフォーマー
1988年 東京生まれ
ベルリン・東京在住
「環境、知覚、身体」をテーマに、自らの身体、光、音、テキスト、ドローイングなどの複合メディアを用いた上演作品を制作する。デザイン理論や生態心理学を学んだ背景から、特定の環境下での知覚体験を振付的に再解釈し、上演がもつ現実性／虚構性と関連付けながら再配置することに取り組んできた。分野横断的な活動を展開し、近年は舞台芸術だけではなく美術やファッションのフィールドからも注目を集め、ダンスの実践領域を拡張している。
綿密なリサーチや独自の創作スタイルが評価され、2020年第9回エルスール財団新人賞コンテンポラリーダンス部門を受賞。近年ではダンサーであった実父との生別/死別を扱ったセルフドキュメンタリー作品「Da Dad Dada(ダダッドダダ)」を日本とドイツの二カ国で発表。その他の作品に『after aftershock shock』『P wave』『no room』など。
近年の共演、出演、振付に森山未來、山川冬樹、大谷能生、角銅真実、小田朋美、原田知世、蓮沼執太、U-zhaan、NIKE、BLESS、オニツカタイガー、資生堂、shu uemura、カルティエなど。
東京芸術大学デザイン科修士、ベルリン芸術大学舞踊科ソロパフォーマンス専攻修了。2013年吉野石膏美術振興財団在外研修員。2017年ポーラ美術振興財団在外研修員。2020-2021年アーツコミッション横浜アーティストフェロー。2025年よりセゾン文化財団舞踊部門アーティストフェロー。