was a Japanese dancer who developed his own

choreography Choreography is the art or practice of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which motion or form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A choreographer is one who c ...

style in Europe and America. He was the son of Kimiye Iijima and architect Tamekichi Ito who was educated at the University of Washington; he was one of nine children, and the brother of Director Koreya Senda. Michio left Japan as a teenager to study classic music in Paris. After learning musical theory

Dalcroze eurhythmics Dalcroze eurhythmics, also known as the Dalcroze method or simply eurhythmics, is one of several developmental approaches including the Kodály method, Orff Schulwerk and Suzuki Method used to teach music to students. Eurhythmics was developed ...

, Hellerau in Germany, he started to explore

modern dance Modern dance is a broad genre of western concert or theatrical dance which included dance styles such as ballet, folk, ethnic, religious, and social dancing; and primarily arose out of Europe and the United States in the late 19th and early 20th ...

. He was an associate of

William Butler Yeats William Butler Yeats (13 June 186528 January 1939) was an Irish poet, dramatist, writer and one of the foremost figures of 20th-century literature. He was a driving force behind the Irish Literary Revival and became a pillar of the Irish liter ...

Ezra Pound Ezra Weston Loomis Pound (30 October 1885 – 1 November 1972) was an expatriate American poet and critic, a major figure in the early modernist poetry movement, and a fascist collaborator in Italy during World War II. His works includ ...

, Angna Enters,

Isamu Noguchi was an American artist and landscape architect whose artistic career spanned six decades, from the 1920s onward. Known for his sculpture and public artworks, Noguchi also designed stage sets for various Martha Graham productions, and several ...

, Louis Horst,

Ted Shawn Ted Shawn (born Edwin Myers Shawn; October 21, 1891 – January 9, 1972) was a male pioneer of American modern dance. He created the Denishawn School together with his wife Ruth St. Denis. After their separation he created the all-male company ...

, Martha Graham, Lillian Powell,

Vladimir Rosing Vladimir Sergeyevich Rosing (russian: Владимир Серге́евич Розинг) (November 24, 1963), also known as Val Rosing, was a Russian-born operatic tenor and stage director who spent most of his professional career in the United ...

, Pauline Koner,

Lester Horton Lester Iradell Horton (23 January 1906 – 2 November 1953) was an American dancer, choreographer, and teacher. Early years and education Lester Iradell Horton was born in Indianapolis, Indiana on 23 January 1906. His parents were Iradell and Pol ...

and others. He danced with the Anglo-Indian dancer

Roshanara Olive Katherine Craddock (22 January 1894 – 14 July 1926) was an Anglo-Indian dancer trained in British India who danced under the name Roshanara. She was known for showing central Indian dance techniques in Britain and America. She died in he ...

in 1917, and with French-Indian dancer

Nyota Inyoka Nyota Inyoka (1896 – July 1971), sometimes billed as Princess Nyota Inyoka, was a French-Indian dancer and choreographer. Early life Nyota Inyoka was born in PondicherryTessa Jahn"Cutting into History: The 'Hindu Dancer' Nyota Inyoka's Ph ...

in 1923-1924. He married Dancer Hazel Agness (1902 -1971), who was performed professionally as Hazel Wright in 1923; they divorced in 1936. They had two children: Donald and Gerald. Their son Gerald "Jerry" Tamekichi Ito (1927-2007) became an actor.

New York Years

He was active in New York City from 1916 to 1929, when he moved to California. His works in New York included "Bushido" (1916),"Tamura" (1918), "Cherry Blossoms" (1927), "Nuages et Fetes" (1929), and "Turando"(1929). He was particularly well-known for "The Pinwheel Review" (1923) and for being a headliner in William Collier's "Ching-a-Ling Revue" (1927) which featured many well-known performers such as: the Three Meyakos (whose real names were Esther, Florence and George Kudara); Hisako Koine; and J. Ah Chung and E. Don Sang (formerly vaudeville performers in the Chung Hwa Four). While in New York he championed the idea of a performance space for dancers. This idea resulted in the Theatre Arts Building which was managed by the Dance Guild, Inc., and provided two theatres and 250 studios with living quarters.

California Years

He moved to California in 1929 at the start of the Great Depression. He worked on several movies during this time, though his work was not always credited. In 1931, he opened Michio Ito Studios, his dance school at Hollywood Boulevard and Wilton Place. His wife, Hazel Wright, was on the faculty there. Dorothy Wagner and Jessmin Howarth were also listed as instructors at the school. He performed several symphonic dance poems at the Hollywood Bowl, including ones to "

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" and "

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". These events were spectacular due to the size of the performance; they featured one hundred twenty-five dancers, a two hundred person choir and an orchestra of one hundred musicians. In 1931, the Itō's travelled to Japan. His party included his wife Hazel Wright, their two children, along with some performers. The visit marked a homecoming for Michio who had been gone from Japan for nearly twenty years. Five performances were held in the two months he was in Japan. One performance was marred by an arrest of Hazel Wright during her performance at the International Club in Tokyo. An Inspector General and five policeman interrupted the performance by making an arrest for "social dancing." Tangos and Waltzes were perceived as a moral hazard in Japan during this period and were prohibited. Itō and the club's chairman supplied the permits and approvals they had received along with arguments that the dancing on stage exempted them from the current regulations. Their release occurred at two in the morning, and their arguments must have been successful because further police actions were avoided. In 1939, Itō surprised many when he assisted

Sally Rand Sally Rand (born Helen Gould Beck; April 3, 1904 – August 31, 1979) was an American burlesque dancer, vedette, and actress, famous for her ostrich feather fan dance and balloon bubble dance. She also performed under the name Billie Beck ...

, one of his former students, with a benefit to support a repertory dance theater group. Rand and Itō performed a duet at the event. Earlier the previous year he choreographed the "Dance of the Peacock" for her movie ''The Sunset Murder Case'' (1938). Itō travelled to Japan in 1939 for his parents' fiftieth wedding anniversary.

World War II and Internment

In 1941, Michio was arrested and held at four different internment facilities; first in Montana ( Fort Missoula), Oklahoma (

Fort Sill Fort Sill is a United States Army post north of Lawton, Oklahoma, about 85 miles (136.8 km) southwest of Oklahoma City. It covers almost . The fort was first built during the Indian Wars. It is designated as a National Historic Landma ...

), Louisiana ( Camp Livingston), and New Mexico (Santa Fe). He was eventually deported from the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

after the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. His son "Jerry" Ito served in the U.S. Navy during the war. Itō and his second wife, Tsuyako, sailed to Japan as part of a prisoner exchange. He arrived in Yokohama in 1944.

Post War Years In Japan

Upon arriving in Japan, he told newspapers at a press conference that "the American fighting spirit cannot be underestimated." Upon arrival, he worked creating the Greater East Asia Stage Arts Research Institute. After Japan surrendered in 1945, he was chosen to manage the

Ernie Pyle Theatre is another home for Takarazuka Creative Arts in Yurakucho, Chiyoda ward, Tokyo. It served as the second round performing theater for the Revue's performing cycle. The original theater was built in 1934. It was taken over by the American GHQ af ...

which was created by the United States to entertain American troops. Japanese citizens were not allowed to attend performances. "Fantasy Japonica" was the his first production there, "Jungle Drums" (1946), "Sakura Flowers" (1947) and "Rhapsody In Blue" (1947) performances also received press attention. While at the Ernie Pyle, he brought his brother Kisaku Ito on as Scenic Designer. In 1948, Ito was permitted to mount a production for the Japanese public of Gilbert and Sullivan's ''

The Mikado ''The Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu'' is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, their ninth of fourteen operatic collaborations. It opened on 14 March 1885, in London, where it ran at the Sa ...

''. His work was not restricted to the Ernie Pyle as he put on other performances in Japan during this time. He also formed a dancing school while in Tokyo. The Ernie Pyle continued as an American Theatre until after his death; finally closing in 1966 and reverting to the original Japanese owners. He was creator of the "Holiday In Japan" show for the

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in Las Vegas. In 1960, he was chosen to direct two of the

1964 Tokyo Olympics The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 ( ja, 東京1964), were an international multi-sport event held from 10 to 24 October 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this hon ...

events: the Torch Relay and the opening ceremony. Articles reveal that he had plans for the Olympic torch bearers to leave Greece following the path of Marco Polo to Japan. His plans for the Olympics were not realized he died 6 November 1961, at the age of 67.

Cinematography

* ''Song of India'' (1920) * '' Dawn of the East'' (1921) * ''Lotus Land'' (1928) * No, No Nanette (1930) contributed "Japanese Ballet" sequence to the movie * '' Madame Butterfly'' (1932) * '' Spawn of the North'' (1938) * ''The Sunset Murder Case'' (1941)

References

External links

*
Michio Itō
at IBDB
Michio Ito Foundation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ito, Michio 1890s births 1961 deaths Japanese male dancers Japanese choreographers