Saburo Teshigawara's Miroku

Japanese dancer/choreographer Saburo Teshigawara is viewed in much of the world “as one of the really great masters, an essential innovator of our time,” says Walker Art Center performing arts curator Philip Bither. Known as much for his artistry in all aspects of design (light, scene, sound, costume) as for his compelling yet abstract dances, Teshigawara is on a level with Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, or even the late Pina Bausch.

Don’t feel bad if you haven’t heard of him. Revered as he is in the rest of the world, Teshigawara’s appearances in the United States have been few and far between. European dancegoers can see his work in the repertories of their great ballet companies (Teshigawara’s earliest training was in ballet), but America’s more conservative ballet companies haven’t commissioned work from him. This month we’ll get a rare chance to see the world-renowned genius in action when Teshigawara performs his latest solo, Miroku, at the Walker’s McGuire Theater.

Solos can be small, but Miroku (the Japanese name for a Buddha who is yet to come) barely fits on the McGuire’s generous stage. And abstract dances can be grueling or snooze-worthy, but Teshigawara “has a real sense of theater,” says Bither. “He takes you on a journey.”

Though Teshigawara excels at large-scale drama, the details of his dance are equally compelling. His style follows no school—it’s not ballet, and it’s not butoh, Japan’s most influential contemporary form—though American audiences may think of hip-hop funk when they see his silky, fluid moves. Teshigawara’s dance is a human calligraphy in which time becomes nearly visible, an element he struggles or swims through. Watching him, as Bither says, you know that “you’re in the hands of a master.” April 22–24. Walker Art Center, 1750 Hennepin Ave., Mpls., 612-375-7600, walkerart.org