Shinichi Iova-Koga is the Artistic Director of the physical theater and dance company called inkBoat. The company has received five San Francisco Izzie awards and has toured in Europe, Asia and the United States. Iova-Koga’s approach to mobility, composition, feeling states and time stems from his experience with Daoist Internal Arts, Action Theater (improvisation training), Butoh Dance, Aikido and Noh Theater. He is certified to teach Qi Gong by Lotus Nei Gong, and he runs the Swiss branch of Wudang West.

Long-term collaborations with Anna Halprin (postmodern dance), Ko Murobushi (Butoh dance), Yuko Kaseki (Butoh dance), Ann Carlson (contemporary dance), and Yumiko Yoshioka (Butoh dance) as well extensive time (21 years & counting) with mentor Ruth Zaporah (action theater) and a more brief though potent time with Ralph Lemon (contemporary dance) shape his perceptions and aesthetic.

He has taught within university dance programs, most notably as a core faculty member at Mills College in California from 2009 to 2017, where he presently continues his relationship as an artist-in-residence. He has taught short workshops at Bath University (U.K.), UC Riverside, UC Berkeley, San Francisco State University, Stanford University, Experimental Theater Wing at NYU/Tisch, Texas Women’s University and others. He co-teaches the workshop “Dance on Land” with his wife Dana Iova-Koga in wilderness environments. In addition, he is the editor of the book 95 Rituals, a tribute to Anna Halprin, and a contributing writer to The Routledge Companion to Butoh Performance.

Selections of works created by Shinichi Iova-Koga and collaborators from 2000 - 2020 can be viewed here.