David Shimotakahara
One Thing Leads to Another (excerpt), 2025
ABOUT THE exhibition
One Thing Leads to Another began with the exploration of simple movements that acquire complexity. Created for two dancers, the work develops from two different perspectives. Reimagining the piece through the medium of video allows us to focus on elements of proportion and proximity in the movement. The resulting content points to the many ways our individual thoughts and emotions are subject to constantly shifting perceptions that connect us in ways we can’t fully predict.
ABOUT THE Artist
David Shimotakahara has been a member of the Atlanta Ballet, Boston Repertory Ballet, Kathryn Posin Dance Company, and the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre. He performed with Ohio Ballet under the direction of Heinz Poll from 1983-1999. He also served as Rehearsal Assistant for Ohio Ballet from 1989-1999. Mr. Shimotakahara has choreographed for opera and theater with the Cleveland Opera, Great Lakes Theater Festival, and the Dallas Theater Center. He served on the Carlisle Project advisory panel in 1996, and dance panels for the Ohio Arts Council, Illinois Arts Council, the Mid Atlantic Arts Alliance, and the National Endowment for the Arts. He has been awarded 8 Individual Artist Fellowships for Choreography from the Ohio Arts Council from 1996 to 2016. Mr. Shimotakahara received the 2000 Cleveland Arts Prize for Dance. In 2002, his work with GroundWorks DanceTheater was voted “One of 25 to Watch” by Dance Magazine. In 2007, he received the OhioDance Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Advancement of the Dance Artform. Mr. Shimotakahara was a 2008 recipient of the first COSE Arts and Business Innovation award as the founder of GroundWorks DanceTheater. In 2010 and 2013, Shimotakahara received a Creative Workforce Fellowship, a program of the Community Partnership for Arts and Culture funded by Cuyahoga Arts and Culture.
David Shimotakahara, Artistic Director, choreographer, and co-editor
Cory Sheldon, Cinematographer and co-editor
Victoria Rumism and Matthew Saggiomo, dancers and choreographic collaborators