Yumi Umiumare

Born in Hyogo, Japan, Yumi is an established Butoh dancer/choreographer in Australia. She is the creator of Butoh Cabaret and physical theatre works, which are renowned for provoking visceral emotions and cultural identities.

Yumi has been creating and teaching her distinctive style of works over the last 20 years and her works have been seen in numerous festivals in dance, theatre and film productions throughout Australia, Japan, East and West Europe, New Zealand and South East Asia.

Her works have received critical acclaim and garnered her and her collaborators several Australian Green Room awards. Her own production’s credits include Tokyo DasSHOKU Girl (1999-2003), DasSHOKU Cultivations!! (Osaka2003), and most recently DasSHOKU SHAKE! (2012), which won Melbourne Fringe Festival Awards and Innovation in Green Room Awards.

Her solo dance works, Sakasama, Dis-Oriental and duo works with Tony Yap, How could you even begin to understand? and ZeroZero, have toured Japan, Hongkong, Malaysia, Indoneisa and most recently Columbia.

As a choreographer, Yumi has worked with BighART, Asylum Seekers Resource Center, ESL community groups, Japanese/Australian rock ‘n’ roll musicals. She has recently worked with women from the sex industry and people who has recovered from gambling.