Yoshiko Usami Sienkiewicz

Studio Movement 3 & 4

Yokko [she/her] is an award-winning actor, interdisciplinary artist, movement director, and educator from Japan specializing in Butoh, clown, theatre making, and somatic-based movement. Her acclaimed solo work, Butoh Medea, has toured Europe and the USA for a decade, winning “Best One-Woman Show”, “Best Physical Theatre”, and “Best Choreography” at the United Solo Theatre Festival. Her directed and choreographed ensemble piece, SHINKA, won “Outstanding Premiere Production” and “Outstanding Choreography and Movement” at the NY Innovative Theatre Awards. Her diverse performance and movement direction credits encompass Shakespeare productions, independent films, avant-garde performing arts, and music videos like Cage The Elephant’s "Ready To Let Go." Yokko has led specialized workshops across Europe, the USA, and Japan. Her passion lies in guiding artists to discover and freely express their unique artistic voices; transformation is a key element of her pedagogy. She serves on the faculty for the BFA programs at LIU Brooklyn/The New Group, NYU/The Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute, and Pace University, and has taught for the MFA programs at the Actors Studio Drama School and Brooklyn College. Her article with collaborator Dr. Brian Rhinehart, “Why Butoh Theatre,” was published by Routledge / Taylor & Francis (2020). She is also the recipient of the 2023 G. William Hume Fellowship. Yokko is the Producing Artistic Director of RenGyoSoh, and the UNFIX NYC Festival.