Akira Kasai (Choreographer and Performer) studied modern dance and classical ballet but completely changed course upon meeting Kazuo Ohno in 1963.  Kasai spent the next two decades studying and dancing with the founders of butoh –Kazuo Ohno and Tatsumi Hijikata - as well as performing many of his own solos throughout Japan.  In 1971, Kasai established Tenshi-Kan, an institute for butoh and esoteric studies in Tokyo, and continued to create work and perform throughout Japan.  In 1979, Kasai stopped dancing and left for Stuttgart, Germany to study the principles of eurythmy.  After graduating from the Eurythmeum in 1983, Kasai returned to Japan in 1985 and began teaching eurythmy in various cities in Japan. His performances in the 1980s include a number of eurythmy works.  In 1991, he re-opened Tenshi-kan as a four-year school for eurythmy.  At the same time, Kasai began to create a highly individual and new style of butoh, which he debuted in 1994 with the work, Seraphita. Since then, he has created and performed numerous works and recently has been actively collaborating with and choreographing for various artists, including Kasai Kisanuki Company, Ryohei Kondo, Yoko Ando and Naoka Uemura. Since 1999 he has been choreographing Blue Sky Series, an all-female company of five emerging dancers.  His recent performances abroad include Perspective of the Dream: Skill of a Prostitute (Gottengen Germany), My Own Apocalypse (Changmu International Festival, Seoul, Korea), the San Francisco Butoh Festival, Does a human bring his body to the world of the dead? (Cowell Theater, San Francisco), Exusiai  (Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco), Tenkyu  (Rome, Italy 1998) and Tinctura II (Columbia College, Chicago, 2000). Pollen  Revolution is Kasai's first solo work since 1995.  

Kasai's publications include Tenshi Ron (Essay on Angels) (1972, Gendai Shicho Shinsha) Holy Spirited Butoh (1977, Gendai Shicho Shinsha) Dusk of the Gods (1979, Gendai Shicho Shinsha) and Cosmos Dance Evolution (2004, Gendai Shicho Shinsha).