ABSTRACT
In the 1970s, Miyabi Ichikawa, one of Japan’s foremost dance critics, wrote extensively about the work of American choreographers. His criticism, translated for the first time here, provides an opportunity to see the West viewed from the perspective of the East. It also makes possible an examination of some of the difficulties of writing across cultural boundaries. That these boundaries exist, despite increased intercultural understanding, is beyond doubt. Dance clearly manifests different styles, techniques, and meanings in different cultures, and these differences act as a veil through which a critic sees. In this essay, I will look at cross-cultural differences in American and Japanese dance criticism by closely examining Ichikawa’s texts on Cunningham from the 1970s and comparing his analysis with that of various Americans.
