Allegra
World Premiere
New York Live Arts
October 8-10, 2026
Information and tickets here.
Performances will be accompanied by “Allegra Activations,” a series of free public programs held across New York City.
9/30: Film screening of Rea Tajiri’s History and Memory: For Akiko and Takashige
10/9: Pre-show talk with Carlos J Soto and Dr. Jeffrey Gan
10/10: Gagaku demonstration by the Columbia Gagaku Instrumental Ensemble of New York
Choreographer Benjamin Akio Kimitch conjures a fantasy Japanese American court dance where history presses against memory, and memory against imagination. Drawing from family oral history and years of research in the United States and Japan, ballet stages give way to temple grounds, barren foothills, army barracks, and the stench of empty horse stables. Benjamin’s “Allegra” turns to Bugaku, an ancient dance form whose roots stretch across Persia, India, China, Korea, and Japan. In postwar U.S.-Japan relations, performances of Bugaku inspired multiple collaborations with New York City Ballet, including George Balanchine’s own “Bugaku” ballet. These histories converge through a Japanese American lens anchored by the aftermath of the camps in World War II. Benjamin and his ensemble, Jessica Cook, Lai Yi Ohlsen, Glenn Potter-Takata, and Nami Yamamoto, bring these collective memories to life.
Approximate runtime: 80 minutes
Director, Choreographer: Benjamin Akio Kimitch
Performers: Jessica Cook, Lai Yi Ohlsen, Glenn Potter-Takata, Nami Yamamoto, and Benjamin Akio Kimitch
Understudy: evan ray suzuki
Music: Traditional Bugaku, Roei, Tōgaku, and music by Aaron Copland, Toshiro Mayuzumi, Kahoru Nakamura, OHYUNG featuring Fumiya Otonashi and Motonori Miura, Hiroshi Yoshimura
Costume Designer: Carlos Soto
Scenic Designer: Jian Jung
Lighting Designer: Serena Wong
Dramaturg: Jeffrey Gan
Gagaku Advisor: Fumiya Otonashi
Cultural Advisor and Mentor: Yasuko Yokoshi
Costume Supervisor: Victoria Bek
Associate Scenic Designer: Josh Oberlander
Production Stage Manager: Taeuk Kang
Production Manager: Emily Duncan
Additional Choreography:
Totenraku, Bugaku repertoire transmission from Fumiya Otonashi.
Tyler Tyler (excerpt) by Yasuko Yokoshi with reference to Shima no Senzai, Nihon Buyo repertoire transmission from Yokoshi.
Producers: ShowShow and Benjamin Akio Kimitch
Artistic Administrator: Hanna Yurfest
ShowShow
Jenni Bowman, Founder & Producer
Melissa Kievman, Co-Founder & Producer
Jason Goodman, Associate Producer
Janet Rucker, Company Manager
Bugaku: I. Lento
Composed By: Toshirō Mayuzumi
Performed By: New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Takuo Yuasa
Courtesy of Naxos of America, Inc.
Presented under license from Edition Peters New York, copyright owners.
Yoshinso – secret music（秘曲 楊真操）
Restored, arranged and performed by Kahoru Nakamura (gaku-biwa)
From the album Yusura – playing the Gakubiwa
TMS-World / Tribass Music Studios
tms-world.bandcamp.com/album/yusura-playing-the-gakubiwa
"Yoshinso" is one of the three secret pieces (hikyoku) of the gaku-biwa repertoire, long lost and reconstructed from historical notation by Kahoru Nakamura.
memorial - Fumiya Otonashi Remix
By OHYUNG featuring Fumiya Otonashi and Motonori Miura, commissioned for Benjamin Akio Kimitch's Allegra
Courtesy of the artists
© 2026 OHYUNG / Fumiya Otonashi
"memorial" originally comes from the album IOWA by OHYUNG
Booking Info:
Please contact Jenni Bowman, Producer, for info on touring and engagement. jenni@showshow.co
This project has U.S. touring subsidies available through NEFA National Dance Project.
The creation of Allegra was supported in part by a commission from New York Live Arts’ Live Feed Residency program, supported in part by Partners for New Performance. Allegra is made possible by the New England Foundation for the Arts' National Dance Project, with lead funding from the Doris Duke Foundation and the Mellon Foundation; Creative Capital Foundation; the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature; Café Royal Cultural Foundation; and residency support from the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), a Hunter College Dance Chair’s Residency, and Park Avenue Armory. Additional support provided by Diane Chang, Rob Krulak, Al and Eileen Ono, Pam and Tim Dagoberg, Morgan Van Prelle Peceli, Cynthia Mayeda, and many others. Benjamin Akio Kimitch Creative Fund is powered by Producer Hub.
Research and development has been made possible by the Asian Cultural Council; MacDowell; Yaddo; Mercury Store; and the Mertz Gilmore Foundation Dancer Award in partnership with The New York Foundation for the Arts.
Photo by Alexander Coggin