Hi, I’m Maho, a Japanese choreographer and interdisciplinary artist based in NYC.
Today, I’m asking for your support for my first site-specific performance at Gotham Park in New York this June 2026.
I moved to the U.S. to study postmodern dance, drawing strong influence from 1960s American visual artists—especially the Light and Space movement—which has helped me connect minimalist aesthetics with my cultural grounding in Zen philosophy.
As part of my research exploring Zen philosophy as a choreographic form, I began enacting meditation practices with four dancers to create a “non-hierarchical sense of time and space” in the studio, seeking to connect my inner experience of meditation with a choreographic score shared across bodies, each given equal importance.
I approach this as a kind of survival practice for our current moment, and developed prototype showings in churches and theaters, inviting audiences to engage with and share a meditative mindset through performance. Here’s the work-in-progress showing at Judson Church NY in June 2025 - “Nothing to Watch”
I am drawn to bring this experiment into non-traditional performance venues—spaces that are more open to the public, where the hierarchy between performer and audience can be further dissolved. In such environments, audience members can take initiative in how they engage with the work, making choices that respect their perspectives as equal to the internal activity of the performance.
This led me to Gotham Park—an interconnected yet open space beneath the Brooklyn Bridge that links Brooklyn and Manhattan—as a site to further explore and reframe the relationship between being seen and seeing, and to refresh the experience of viewing itself.
This site-specific performance at Gotham Park will be presented as a free, public event as part of Gotham Park’s Saturday Programming. It invites a diverse audience—from neighbors in Chinatown and local skateboarders to anyone curious about spontaneous happenings on the street. The project aims to expand access to contemporary dance by situating the work within an open and shared environment for New Yorkers.
Because this performance is free and open to all, we need your support to bring it to life.
Money raised will cover costs of the public performance, including:
・artist fee (choreographer, six performers, costume artist, sound artists, photographer, videographer, production manager)
・rehearsal studio fee (42 hours of studio rehearsals)
・production costs (props, costumes, beverages at sites)
・promotion expenses (website, social media)
・transportation expenses (car to bring props and costumes)
The performance will take place at Gotham Park on June 6, and this fundraiser will stay open through July 18.
After the show at Gotham Park, this project will continue to develop in DUMBO (June 20–21), the Lower East Side (July 11–12), Williamsburg (September), and at Kyushu University in Japan (October).
As a choreographer in New York, I’m thinking about how Asian bodies and cultural contexts are often underrepresented. My work aims to re-center these perspectives and support more inclusive, equitable ways of experiencing performance.
I came to New York to be part of its vibrant art scene, and your support would mean a lot as I continue building my practice here.
Love,
Maho
Performance Detail: [Nothing to Watch - Gotham Park]
Date: June 6, 2026
Site: Gotham Park (1 Rose St, New York, NY 10038)
Performers: Carolyn Hall, Annie MingHao Wang, Emily Young, Liam McLaughlin, Leah Fournier
Producer: Shana Crowford
Choreographer: Maho Ogawa
Sound: Sugar Vendil