Akiko Kanda

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Name: Akiko Kanda
Kanji: アキコ・カンダ (formerly 神田明子)
Position: Choreographer / Dance Teacher
Former Takarasienne: No

Height:
Birthday: 24 October 1935
Blood Type:
Hometown:
Hobbies:

First Takarazuka Work: 1962

Year	Title	Type of Performance	Troupe
2006	AKIKO: On Stage With Takarasiennes	Bow Hall Concert	Various
2002	DANCIN' AKIKO: 40th Anniversary	Bow Hall Concert	Various
1999	Second Matsumoto Yuri Recital	Bow Hall	Senka
1999	The Wonder Three	Bow Hall	Snow
1998	Wuthering Heights	Nippon Seinenkan	Cosmos
1998	The Fiction	Bow Hall	Snow
1997	Elegy	Bow Hall	Star
1997	Wuthering Heights	Bow Hall	Snow
1997	DANCIN' AKIKO: 35th Anniversary	Bow Hall Concert	Various
1995-96	The Story Of a Sword, Love, and a Rainbow	Main	Star
1994	Winter Storm	Main	Flower
1993-94	Seal of the Bourbons	Main	Snow
1993	Manhattan Story	Bow Hall	Moon
1990	Great Expectations	Main	Moon
1989	Angel's Smile, Devil's Tears	Main	Moon
1971	Singer's Singer	Main	Snow

Year	Title	Type of Performance	Role
2006	AKIKO: On Stage With Takarasiennes	Bow Hall Concert	Star

Year	Title	Main or Assistant
2001-02	To Martha	Star

She began dancing at the age of seven and entered the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance in 1956. Two years later she joined the Martha Graham Dance Company, in which she rose to become a principal dancer before returning to Japan in 1962 to work for Takarazuka. As well as being a choreographer, she is the most important dance teacher at the Takarazuka Music School.

Prizes she has been awarded by the Japanese government include:

The Art Festival Excellence Prize (1969)
The Art Festival Grand Prize (1974)
The Education Minister's Art Encouragement Prize (1988)
The Order of the Violet Ribbon (1998)

In 1984-85, a documentary was made about her dancing and her daily life, entitled Akiko: Portrait of a Dancer, and a book of photographs of her is also available.

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